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THE  BLOOD  OF  THE  CROSS. 


tub 


BLOOD  OP  THE  CROSS. 


BT  THB 

REV.  HORATIUS  BONAR, 

KELSO. 


* The  precious  blood  of  Christ  as  of  a Lamb  without  blemish  Mid 
without  spot.”- — 1 Peter  i.  19. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

WILLIAM  S.  & ALFRED  MARTIEN, 

No.  608  Chestnut  Street. 

1858. 


S TV  x f 


"3  &>  ¥ 


PREFACE. 


That  blood  has  been  shed  upon  the 
earth,  and  that  this  blood  was  no  other 
than  the  “ blood  of  God,”1  all  admit  who 
own  the  Bible.  But  admitting  this,  the 
question  arises,  how  far  is  each  one  of  us 
implicated  in  this  blood-shedding?  Does 
not  God  take  for  granted  that  we  are 
guilty]  Nay  further,  that  this  guilt  is  the 
heaviest  that  can  weigh  a sinner  down ! 

If  so,  then  is  it  not  a question  for  the 
saint,  how  far  have  I understood  and  con- 
fessed my  participation  in  this  guilt  in- 
curred by  my  long  rejection  of  the  slain 
One?  How  far  have  I learned  to  prize 

1 Acts  xx.  28. 


Iv 


PREFACE. 


that  blood,  which  though  once  my  accuser 
is  now  my  advocate  ? How  far  am  I now 
seeing  and  rejoicing  in  the  complete  sub- 
stitution of  life  for  life, — the  divine  life  for 
the  human, — which  that  blood-shedding 
implies? 

Is  it  not  also  a serious  question  for  the 
ungodly,  is  this  blood-shedding  really  and 
legally  chargeable  against  me?  Is  God 
serious  in  saying  that  he  means  to  reckon 
with  me  for  this?  Is  this  blood  at  this 
present  moment  resting  over  me  as  a cloud 
of  wrath  ready  to  burst  upon  my  head 
so  soon  as  my  day  of  grace  runs  out? 
Is  it  on  account  of  my  treatment  of  this 
blood  that  I am  to  be  dealt  with  at  the 
seat  of  judgment!  Is  my  eternity  really 
to  hinge  on  this? 

If  so,  what  course  can  I pursue  ? Can 
I,  like  Pilate,  take  water  and  wash  my 
hands  saying  “ I am  innocent  of  the  blood 


PREFACE. 


V 


of  this  just  man”?1  No:  that  is  hopeless 
My  long  rejection  of  it  must  involve  at 
least  something  of  the  guilt ; how  much* 
remains  yet  to  be  seen.  If  I cannot  clear 
myself,  and  if  I cannot  extenuate  my  crime, 
then  I must  either  brave  the  trial  and  the 
sentence,  or  make  haste  to  enter  my  pro- 
test against  the  deed  as  the  only  course 
now  remaining  for  me. 

In  such  a matter  there  is  room  neither 
for  delay  nor  uncertainty.  Let  the  mat- 
ter at  once  be  inquired  into,  and  put  be- 
yond the  reach  of  doubt.  Is  it  possible 
that  any  one  can  rest  with  less  than  a cer- 
tainty of  forgiveness  so  long  as  such  a 
charge  is  hanging  over  him.  Either  he 
does  not  understand  its  meaning,  or  he  is 
resolved  to  set  it  at  nought. 

No  certainty  can  be  greater  than  that  I 
am  guilty  of  the  crime.  Can  I rest  satis- 
1 Matt,  xxvii,  24. 


vi 


PREFACE. 


fied  with  anything  but  an  equal  certainty 
that  this  crime  has  been  cancelled?  To  be 
sure  of  guilt,  and  not  to  be  sure  of  pardon, 
is  a fearful  condition  indeed.  To  know 
that  there  is  a Saviour  whose  blood  clean- 
seth  from  all  sin,  and  yet  not  to  know  with 
equal  certainty  that  all  the  blessings  flow- 
ing from  his  blood  have  become  mine, 
must  be  misery  beyond  endurance.  Un- 
certainty in  such  a case  is  the  very  mockery 
of  my  grief. 

Was  the  gospel  meant  to  bring  us  no 
certainty  here?  Is  our  believing  it  design- 
ed to  give  us  no  assured  peace?  Is  this 
assured  peace  a plant  not  of  this  clime? 
Must  we  wait  for  it  till  we  reach  the  land 
of  peace?  Is  it  not  our  portion  here,  and 
is  it  not  by  having  this  that  we  are  ena- 
bled to  face  and  battle  with  the  darkest 
storms  of  life!1 

1 “ You  may  see  life  in  death,  heaven  in  the 


PREFACE. 


vii 


Did  the  sight  of  that  blood  assure  us 
at  once  of  our  guilt,  and  shall  not  the  sight 
of  it  now  assure  us  equally  of  our  forgive- 
ness! Did  it  formerly  speak  certain  ter- 
ror, and  shall  it  not  now  speak  certain 
peace?  Or  do  we  say,  but  I am  not  suro 
whether  I am  really  receiving  it, — this  ie 
my  difficulty.  Be  it  so.  Did  you  find 
the  same  difficulty  in  knowing  whether 
you  were  rejecting  it!  Was  it  so  easy  to 
discover  the  rejection,  and  is  it  so  hard 
to  discover  the  reception?  You  knew 
when  you  put  it  from  you,  and  do  you 
not  know  when  you  would  take  it  to  you? 
Is  there  not  something  unnatural,  some- 
thing strange  in  this? 

If  you  are  not  sure  whether  yoii  have 
received  or  rejected  the  blood  of  propitia- 

deepest  hell,  glory  in  shame,  when  thou  seest  all 
thy  sins  done  away  in  the  blood  of  Jesus.” 

Shepherd's  “ Sound  Believer.” 


Vili  PREFACE. 

tion,  then  in  so  far  as  your  peace  is  con- 
cerned, it  is  all  one  as  if  you  knew  that 
you  had  rejected  it.  For  uncertainty  can 
bring  no  peace  to  the  troubled  spirit.  It 
can  heal  no  wounds;  it  can  kindle  no 
hope.  It  leaves  the  soul  in  sorrowful 
darkness,  just  as  if*  the  true  light  had  not 
arisen,  or  had  withdrawn  itself  from  view; 
just  as  if  the  peace-bringing  blood  had 
never  been  shed,  or  had  been  hidden  from 
your  eyes.  Uncertainty!  Who  that  realises 
an  accusing  law,  and  a sin-hating  God, 
can  remain  uncertain  without  also  remain- 
ing most  thoroughly  and  absolutely  mi- 
serable!1 

God  has  provided  for  this  certainty,  and 

1 “ It  is  no  right  faith  but  when  we  are  bold 
with  quiet  minds  to  show  ourselves  in  the  pre- 
sence of  God.  Which  boldness  comes  from  as- 
sured confidence  in  the  good-will  of  God.  It  is 
assuredness  that  maketh  the  conscience  quiet 
and  cheerful  before  God.” — Calvin's  Institutes. 


PREPACE. 


ix 


taken  out  of  the  way  all  that  might  mar 
it,  or  generate  the  reverse.  He  has  not 
only  shed  the  blood  of  his  dear  Son,  but  so 
presents  it  to  us  as  sinners , as  to  leave  us 
no  alternative,  but  either  to  deny  his  tes- 
timony concerning  it,  or  to  be  at  peace 
with  him  in  simply  receiving  it  as  that 
through  which  peace  has  been  made  by  his 
Son  upon  the  cross.  Shall  we  then  cleave 
to  this  uncertainty  as  if  it  contained  some 
mysterious  blessing!  Or  shall  we  remain 
contented  with  it,  even  for  an  hour,  see- 
ing we  cannot  but  feel  that  it  is  no  bless- 
ing, but  a blighting  curse ? 

The  amount  of  uncertainty  in  the  pre- 
sent day  is  great.  Thousands  who  name 
the  name  of  Christ  are  not  ashamed  to 
own  it.  Few  seem  to  have  firm  and  abid- 
ing peace.  Few  walk  in  the  blessed  con- 
sciousness of  being  forgiven,  and  saved, 


X 


PREFACE. 


and  reconciled.  No  wonder  that  we  should 
he  so  feeble  and  sickly ; no  wonder  that 
we  should  have  so  small  success  in  labour- 
ing for  God.  Conscious  of  personal  friend- 
ship between  him  and  us,  what  is  there 
that  we  will  not  do  or  dare?  What  is 
there  that  he  will  not  do  for  us  and  by  us? 

Is  this  a time  for  uncertainty  when 
judgments  are  darkening  over  us,  and 
God  has  arisen  to  smite  the  nations  for 
their  sins?  Nothing  now  will  keep  us 
calm  but  certainty.  Such  a storm  will 
need  a sure  anchor.  A man  may  cheat 
his  soul  into  tranquillity  when  days  are 
prosperous  and  skies  are  blue.  He  may 
say,  “ I hope  it  will  go  well  with  me  at 
last,”  and  sit  down  contented  with  that 
meagre  hope.  But  when  heaven  and  earth 
are  shaken,  he  cannot  but  tremble.  His 
peace  gives  way  at  the  first  ruffle  of  the 


PREFACE. 


xi 

tempest.  He  had  no  certainty  to  lean  up- 
on, and  his  false  security  was  broken  in  an 
hour. 

So  must  it  be  with  every  one  in  these 
days  of  evil,  that  is  resting  satisfied  with 
less  than  a certainty — a certainty  reared 
upon  the  one  foundation.  And  how  many 
hearts  are  secretly  throbbing  now,  when 
they  hear  afar  off  the  sound  of  advancing 
terror.  They  are  confessing  to  themselves 
now  that  their  rest  was  unreal,  and  their 
hope  a fancy.  They  are  filled  with  fear, 
and  “ grope  for  the  wall  as  the  blind.” 
They  feel  that  they  have  hitherto  taken 
hold  of  an  uncertainty,  and  flattered  them- 
selves with  the  idea  that  a man  might 
very  well  be  a Christian,  and  yet  know  it 
not.  But  now  they  are  moved.  They 
feel  that  this  is  “ a covering  narrower  than 
that  a man  can  wrap  himself  in  it.”  They 
had  tried  to  make  themselves  believe  that 


Xii  PREFACE* 

they  were  Christians  of  long  standing,  and 
now  they  find  themselves  no  farther  on 
than  ten  or  twenty  years  ago,  when  first 
they  awoke  from  their  sleep  of  death. 

It  is  well,  however,  that  the  discovery 
be  made,  however  late.  It  matters  not 
how  roughly  the  sleeper  is  awakened,  if 
only  he  be  roused  in  time  to  flee  from  en- 
compassing danger.  It  is  not  yet  too  late. 
The  cross  is  still  standing  on  the  earth. 
The  crucified  One  is  still  upon  the  mercy- 
seat.  If  the  favour  of  God  has  hitherto 
been  a dark  uncertainty,  it  may  yet  be 
made  sure.  The  way  of  reconciliation 
through  the  blood  is  as  open  as  ever. 

Reader!  Rest  not  till  you  have  got 
matters  thoroughly  settled  between  God 
and  your  soul.  This  settlement  must  be 
on  solid  and  immoveable  grounds.  But 
these  grounds  God  is  presenting  to  you  in 
the  blood  of  his  only  begotten  Son.  Con- 


PREFACE. 


xiii 

aider  them  well.  They  are  your  all  for 
eternity!  You  need  not  fear  risking  your 
soul  upon  them.  Oh ! well  for  you,  if  you 
were  hut  settled  there.  There  would  fol- 
low a lifetime  of  peace  in  this  world,  and 
an  eternity  of  glory  in  the  world  to  come,. 


THE  BLOOD  OF  THE  CEOSS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  ACCUSATION, 

“ Ye  wish  to  bring  this  man’s  blood  up- 
on us,”  wTere  the  words  of  indignant  scorn 
with  which  the  High  Priest  resented  the 
accusations  which  the  apostles,  in  their 
preaching,  brought  against  their  nation, 
and  specially  against  its  rulers.1  They 
were  the  words  of  well-feigned  contempt, 
but  they  were  the  words  of  fear. 

“ Ye  wish  to  bring  this  man’s  blood  up- 
on us,”  was  the  utmost  extent  of  an  an- 

1 Acts  y.  28. 

B 


2 


THE  ACCUSATION. 


swer  attempted  by  the  High  Priest  to  these 
accusations; — as  if  he  would  thus  insinu- 
ate that  they  were  as  false  as  they  were 
absurd  and  impossible.  “ This  man’s 
blood ! — what  have  we  to  do  with  it;  what 
mean  you  by  charging  us  with  the  guilt 
of  it?” 

The  High  Priest  had  not  mistaken  the 
meaning  of  the  apostles,  nor  misconstrued 
the  drift  of  their  charge.  He  was  alto- 
gether correct  in  his  statement.  The 
apostles  did  intend  to  “ bring  this  man’s 
blood  upon  them.”  There  was  no  need 
of  calling  witnesses  to  prove  that  they 
both  said  so,  and  meant  so.  They  denied 
it  not.  They  were  not  ashamed  of  having 
made  the  declaration,  nor  afraid  to  repeat 
it.  They  made  no  secret  of  it.  They  re- 
iterated it  in  every  sermon;  they  dwelt 
and  insisted  upon  it  continually.  It  form- 
ed part  of  their  message  every  where. 


THE  ACCUSATION. 


3 


“ Ye  are  the  crucifiers  of  the  Lord  of  glory; 
your  hands  are  stained  with  the  blood  of 
God’s  own  Son.”  This  might  be  said  to 
be  the  commencement  or  preamble  of  each 
sermon,  each  address.1 

Bitterly  was  this  felt  by  those  against 
whom  it  was  directed.  The  arrow  went 
deep,  and  rankled  sore  in  the  wound.  The 
anger  of  the  priests  arose.  They  denied 
the  charge.  They  treated  it  as  a slander 
upon  their  good  name,  and  reviled  the 
apostles  as  calumniators.  The  charge  of 
blood  they  resented  and  repelled. 

This  does  seem  strange.  For,  but  a 
short  time  before,  they  had  come  forward 
voluntarily  to  take  upon  them  the  guilt 
and  the  consequences  of  this  blood-shed- 
ding. How  eagerly  they  shouted,  “ his 
blood  be  upon  us  and  on  our  children!” 
Then  they  made  light  of  this  blood.  They 
1 Acts  ii.  23;  iii.  15. 


4 


THE  ACCUSATION. 


valued  it  at  thirty  pieces  of  silver.  They 
rushed  forward  to  shed  it,  as  if  they  could 
not  rest  till  they  had  poured  it  out  like 
water  upon  the  earth.  But  now  they 
shrink  from  the  imputation,  and  are  stir- 
red up  to  anger  when  it  is  cast  upon  them. 
Nay,  so  much  do  they  resent  it,  that  they 
seek  to  imprison  or  put  to  death  those  who 
make  it. 

Why  this  sudden  change  of  feeling? 
Why  this  sensitiveness  to  the  charge  of 
blood-guiltiness?  It  cannot  he  from  dread 
of  the  men  who  bring  it  forward.  They 
are  few  in  number,  and  have  no  power  to 
injure.  The  charge  which  they  make  is 
accompanied  with  no  threat;  nor  does  it 
bring  with  it  any  temporal  evil  or  danger. 
It  can  issue  in  nothing  disastrous  or  fatal, 
so  far  as  man  and  time  and  the  laws  are 
concerned.  Why  then  this  nervous  irri- 
tability under  the  charge  brought  against 


THE  ACCUSATION. 


5 


them  l>3r  these  unoffending  men, — these 
fishermen  of  Galilee? 

Conscience  had  made  them  cowards.  Its 
murmurs  were  irrepressible  and  unwea- 
ried. It  tormented  them  before  the  time. 
Their  attempts  to  smother  and  silence  it 
only  turned  its  course  and  sent  it  inward , 
to  work  the  disease  into  the  whole  frame, 
thereby  producing  that  singular  revulsion 
of  feeling  which  has  been  noticed,  and  oc- 
casioning that  wrathful  sensitiveness  which 
they  so  often  exhibited  under  the  preach- 
ing of  the  apostles.  Bold  enough  before 
the  deed  was  done,  now  they  are  full  of 
continual  alarms,  as  if  haunted  by  a 
spectre,  or  beset  with  weapons  which  they 
feared  might  every  moment  pierce  them, 
and  avenge  the  blood  which  they  had  shed. 

Conscience  said, 

1.  His  blood  is  upon  you;  and  you  know 
it.  You  shed  it,  and  you  cannot  deny  the 


<5 


THE  ACCUSATION. 


deed.  You  thirsted  for  th,e  shedding  of 
it.  You  gloried  in  the  deed. 

2.  It  was  innocent  blood,  and  you  knew 
it.  It  was  the  blood  of  one  who  had  never 
wronged  you,  who  had  done  evil  to  none, 
but  good  to  all;  against  whom  no  charge 
of  sin  had  been  proved. 

3.  It  vras  blood  shed  by  means  of 
treachery  and  falsehood.  You  had  to  buy 
and  bribe  the  traitor.  You  suborned  wit- 
nesses, whose  testimony  you  knew  to  be 
false.  Every  thing  connected  with  that 
trial  casts  dishonour  upon  those  who  did 
the  deed,  or  procured  it  to  be  done. 

4.  It  was  perhaps,  after  all,  the  blood  of 
God’s  own  Son!  He  claimed  this  title. 
Many  admitted  it.  There  wTere  signs  of 
its  being  authentic.  What  then  if  it  be 
really  true?  Could  there  be  a crime  like 
this? 

Such  might  be  the  workings  of  their 


THE  ACCUSATION. 


7 


spirits,  the  secret  suggestions  of  con- 
sciences not  at  rest,  but  ever  and  anon 
starting  from  the  slumber  into  which 
they  had  been  in  some  measure  lulled. 
No  wonder  that  the  men  were  cut  to  the 
heart,  and  roused  up  to  fiercest  anger  by 
the  preaching  of  the  apostles.  The  ser- 
pent had  twined  itself  around  them.  It 
might  at  times  be  torpid  or  asleep.  But 
every  fresh  mention  of  the  blood,  or  of  the 
name  of  him  whom  they  had  slain,  awoke 
it,  and  sent  its  sting  into  their  vitals. 
Hence  they  hated  the  mention  of  that 
blood  and  that  name.  Vengeance  was  in 
their  hearts  and  on  their  lips  against  every 
one  who  might  venture  upon  an  allusion 
so  hateful.  In  words  they  repelled  the 
charge  as  slanderous,  but  the  inner  man 
confessed  it.  Addressing  the  apostles  they 
might  use  the  language  of  denial, 

“ Thou  canst  not  say,  I did  it," 


8 


THE  ACCUSATION, 


but  the  fear,  the  anger,  the  remorse  which 
awoke  within  them,  betrayed  the  consci- 
ousness of  guilt  in  a way  which  could  not 
be  mistaken.  If  they  were  not  the  actual 
murderers,  they  were  at  least  accomplices 
in  the  deed  of  murder;  and  as  such  they 
were  self-convicted  and  self-condemned. 

True  children  of  Cain!  Both  in  their 
crime,  and  in  their  evasive  denial  of  it! 
When  Jehovah  charged  the  first  murderer 
with  his  brother’s  blood,  how  insolent, 
yet  how  evasive  the  answer — “ Am  I my 
brother’s  keeper?”  As  if  he  had  said, 
“ Do  you  mean  to  charge  me  with  Abel’s 
blood  ? What  do  I know  about  it  or  its 
shedder?”  So  with  these  Jewish  rulers. 
They  commit  the  crime,  and  then  they 
challenge  the  proof  of  their  guilt.  Their 
hands  are  still  stained  with  the  crimson, 
yet  they  can  say,  “ do  you  mean  to 
bring  this  man’s  blood  upon  us?” 


THE  ACCUSATION. 


9 


True  children  of  Cain ! For  where  was 
there  rest  now  for  them?  Fugitives  and 
vagabonds  they  now  must  be,  at  least  in 
spirit;  carrying  within  them  a hidden 
wound  which  they  try  in  vain  to  cover; 
disturbed  with  horrors  which  they  can- 
not alia}’’;  trembling  at  the  sound  of  the 
shaken  leaf  or  the  rustling  breeze. 

True  children  of  Cain!  They  go  out 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  seek 
to  drown  their  terrors  in  worldly  under- 
takings, in  dreams  of  vanity,  or  in  the  lusts 
of  pleasure.  The  worm  that  never  dies 
has  begun  to  gnaw  them!  Yet  they  will 
not  look  on  him  whom  they  have  pierced. 
They  turn  away  in  anger  when  He  is  set 
before  them ! 

The  blood  they  had  shed  would  heal 
them;  for  it  speaketh  better  things  than 
that  of  Abel;  but  they  will  not  be  healed. 


10 


THE  ACCUSATION. 


The  blood  that  alarmed  would  also  have 
laid  all  their  alarms  to  rest.  But  they 
turn  away  from  it.  It  accused  them,  no 
doubt;  yet  it  brought  forgiveness  with  it 
for  the  very  crime  which  it  laid  to  their 
charge.  It  spoke  to  them  as  to  murderers, 
— sinners  for  whose  crime  and  conduct 
there  could  be  no  excuse.  But  it  also 
said,  “ this  is  a faithful  saying,  and  wor- 
thy of  all  acceptation,  that  Jesus  Christ 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,” — 
even  u the  chief.”  1 

They  might  he  “ blasphemers,  persecu- 
tors, and  injurious;”  but  “ the  grace  of  our 
Lord  was  exceeding  abundant.”  Nay  and 
of  some  of  them  at  least  it  might  be  said, 
“ they  did  obtain  mercy,  that  in  them  the 
chief,  Jesus  Christ  might  show  forth  all 
long-suffering,  for  a pattern  to  them,  who 
1 1 Tim.  i.  13, 16. 


THE  ACCUSATION, 


11 


should  hereafter  believe  on  him  to  life 
everlasting.1 

1 The  reader  may  perhaps  call  to  mind  here 
the  conversion  of  Colonel  Gardiner.  He  seemed 
in  a moment  to  get  a sight  of  the  crucified  one; 
his  soul  was  overwhelmed;  he  walked  up  and 
down  his  chamber  in  intensest  agony  of  heart, 
thinking  himself  the  vilest  sinner  under  the  sun, 
as  having  all  his  life  been  crucifying  Christ  by  his . 
sins.  “ He  immediately  gave  judgment  against 
himself  as  most  justly  worthy  of  eternal  damna- 
tion, settling  it  with  himself  that  God's  justice 
necessarily  required  that  such  an  enormous  sin- 
ner should  be  made  an  example  of  everlasting 
vengeance." — See  his  Life  by  Doddridge . 


12 


ISRAEL  GUILTY. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ISRAEL  GUILTY. 

But  how  far  was  this  accusation  true  of 
all  Israel?  It  is  evident  that  the  apos- 
tles spoke  indiscriminately  and  universally, 
not  merely  singling  out  certain  individu- 
als,— the  active  doers  of  the  deed,  the 
more  direct  participators  of  the  crime. 
They  manifestly  charged  the  whole  na- 
tion with  the  guilt.  Speaking  to  those 
whom  they  designate,  “Ye  men  of  Is- 
rael,— “ all  the  house  of  Israel,”  they 
accuse  them  of  having  “taken  and  by 
wicked  hands  having  crucified  and  slain” 
this  “ man  approved  of  God.”  “ Let  all 


ISRAEL  GUILTY. 


13 


of  the  house  of  Israel  know  that  God 
hath  made  that  same  Jesus  whom  ye 
have  crucified,  both  Lord  and  Christ;”1 
“ and  again,  “ Ye  killed  the  Prince  of 
Life.”2 

Moreover,  in  several  other  passages  this 
is  spoken  of  by  God  as  the  peculiar  guilt 
of  the  nation, — that  guilt  which  is  now 
weighing  them  down  with  its  curse, — that 
guilt  which  shall,  above  all  others,  awake 
to  remembrance  when  they  see  their  re- 
turning king.  “ They  shall  look  on  me 
whom  they  have  pierced;”3  and  again, 
“ Every  eye  shall  see  him,  and  they  also 
that  pierced  him.”4  This  then  is  the  great 
national  crime, — the  crime  that  is  pursu- 
ing them  through  all  the  earth.  For  this 
blood  God  reckons  all  Israel  responsible. 
It  is  not  merely  Caiaphas,  or  Herod,  or 

1 Acts  ii.  23,  36.  2 Acts  iii.  15. 

3 Zech.  xii.  10.  4 Rev.  i.  7. 


14 


ISRAEL  GUILTY. 


Pilate;  it  is  not  merely  the  individuals 
who  scourged  and  buffeted,  and  mocked, 
and  nailed  him  to  the  tree : it  is  “ all  Is- 
rael” that  is  accounted  guilty.  They  are 
all  counted  guilty  of  rejecting  Him;  as  it 
is  written,  “ He  came  unto  his  own,  and 
his  own  received  him  not so  they  are 
all  counted  guilty  of  crucifying  Him. 
And  accordingly  the  curse  and  the  desola- 
tion have  come  down  upon  all. 

But  how  is  this?  How  are  they  all 
guilty?  Why  has  the  stroke  of  vengeance 
come  upon  the  whole  nation? 

Because  the  same  spirit  was  in  all.  They 
“ consented  to  his  death,”  like  Saul  in  the 
case  of  Stephen,  and  “ kept  the  raiment  of 
them  that  slew  him.”  They  acquiesced 
in  the  deed,  if  they  did  not  perpetrate  it. 
They  stood  by  and  hindered  it  not.  They 
did  not  protest  against  the  deed,  nor  give 
any  sort  of  testimony  incondcmnation  of 


ISRAEL  GUILTY. 


15 


the  doers.  Therefore  they  are  held  as  ac- 
quiescing, nay  as  participating  in  the  sin. 

It  is  thus  in  human  law.  If  we  belong 
to  a corporation  or  society  which  resolves 
by  a majority  of  its  members  to  do  an  un- 
lawful deed,  we  are  held  liable  for  all  the 
consequences  and  penalties  attaching  to  that 
deed,  unless  we  enter  our  individual  pro- 
test. Till  we  do  this,  we  are  held  respon- 
sible for  the  act,  whatever  it  may  be. 
Most  naturally  and  most  righteously  is  it 
so.  Law  and  equity  have  always  united 
to  maintain  this. 

It  was  thus  that  God  dealt  with  Israel, 
and  is  to  this  day  dealing  with  them  still. 
It  was  thus  that  the  apostles  made  good 
their  fearful  accusations  wherever  they 
went.”  They  sought  to  “ bring  this  Man’s 
blood  upon  the  heads  of  all  whom  they 
addressed.  Upon  this  they  took  their 


16 


ISRAEL  GUILTY* 


stand.  With  this  sharp-edged  weapon 
they  assailed  the  consciences  of  the  men 
of  Israel.  And  what  a weapon  both  for 
weight  and  sharpness ! Irresistible  in  the 
hands  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  convincing  of 
sin.  Wherever  they  preached  Christ,  they 
proclaimed  men  guilty  of  the  blood  of 
Christ.  They  maintained  that  though, 
perhaps,  not  the  actual  murderers,  yet 
they  were  truly,  legally,  righteously  guil- 
ty; personally  responsible  for  the  infinite 
crime. 

And  the  conscience  of  Israel  pleaded 
guilty  to  the  charge ! They  could  neither 
deny  nor  extenuate  it.  They  did  not  fully 
admit  the  guilt;  but  the  way  in  which 
they  met  the  charge  showed  how  the  inner 
man  was  responding  to  its  truth.  They 
were  enraged;  but  their  very  anger  was  the 
outburst  of  a smitten  conscience.  They 


ISRAEL  GUILTY. 


17 


* 

might  turn  the  accusation  into  matter  of 
scorn;  but  their  scorning  was  the  expres- 
sion of  hidden  fear. 

Hence  their  hatred  of  the  apostles. 
They  looked  upon  them  as  men  in  pos- 
session of  a secret,  the  promulgation  of 
which  was  intolerable.  Could  they  hut 
silence  these  bold  proclaimers,  they  might 
have  rest;  for  then  the  witnesses  of  the 
deed  would  be  hushed,  and  the  evidence 
destroyed.  But  so  long  as  these  witnesses 
remained, — going  round  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land  with  their  story,  and  produ- 
cing the  personal  evidence  of  its  truth,— 
they  could  not  but  be  troubled.  The 
crime  was  felt  to  be  a real  one;  and  the 
mention  of  it  by  such  witnesses  was  like 
the  stinging  of  an  adder.  Hence  also  the 
fearful  agonies  of  conviction  into  which 
those  were  cast  whose  hearts  the  Spirit 
touched.  They  felt  that  all  was  true. 

c 


18 


ISRAEL  GUILTY. 


They  were. murderers:  murderers  of  the 
Lord  of  glory.  Their  hands  were  full  of 
blood.  No  wonder  that  they  were  “pricked 
in  their  hearts,”  and  cried  out,  “ What 
shall  we  do?”  It  was  crime  enough  to 
cover  a world  with  confusion  of  face; 
making  its  knees  to  smite  against  each 
other,  and  its  lips  to  grow  pale  with  shame 
and  fear. 

The  messenger  said,  “ Thou  art  the 
man.”  Conscience  said,  “ I am, — I am  l 
what  shall  I do?  His  blood  is  upon  me: 
how  shall  I escape  the  curse  which  such 
a deed  must  certainly  draw  down ! what 
a doom  must  now  be  mine !”  It  was  thus 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  “ convinced  them  of 
sin.”  He  did  not  take  up  the  whole  cata- 
logue of  their  transgressions,  and  present 
it  in  all  its  black  array  to  their  consciences. 
He  took  up  just  one  sin,  but  that  was  the 
sin  of  blood;  and  that  blood  was  none 


ISRAEL  GUILTY. 


19 


other  than  the  blood  of  God’s  own  Son. 
This  was  the  arrow  which  he  selected  from 
his  quiver;  the  sharpest  and  the  deadliest 
of  all.  It  “ pierced  even  to  the  dividing 
asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints 
and  marrow;  it  was  a discerner  of  the 
thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart.”  There 
were  ten  thousand  other  shafts  ready  fitted 
to  the  string  against  these  sinners;  but 
none  so  resistless,  so  terrible  as  this. 

God  has  for  these  1800  years  been  spe- 
cially laying  the  sin  of  blood- shedding  at 
the  door  of  Israel.  He  has  proclaimed 
them  guilty,  by  the  ruin  wherewith  he  has 
smitten  them  so  fearfully.  It  has  been  no 
common  ruin,  proving  thereby  that  it  was 
no  common  crime.  Denial  of  it  has  avail- 
ed them  nought.  God  has,  by  his  right- 
eous acts,  declared  that  he  reckons  them 
guilty.  If  not  guilty,  why  these  long 
ages  of  calamity  ? If  not  guilty,  why  the 


20 


ISRAEL  GUILTY. 


shame,  the  scattering,  the  banishment 
that  have  been  theirs  since  their  cup  was 
filled? 

Conscience  was  whispering  its  forebod- 
ings when  these  apostles  stood  before  the 
nation,  and  declared  it  guilty.  The  whole 
dark  future  they  could  not  foresee;  but 
that  they  had  sinned,  and  that  they  had 
shed  blood  which  God  required  at  their 
hand,  they  seemed  unconsciously  to  admit, 
even  when  trying  to  evade  or  to  scorn  the 
accusations  of  the  apostles. 

Thus  God  spake,  and  Israel  trembled. 
Thus  the  messengers  of  Jehovah  made  the 
charge,  and  Israel  grew  pale  at  the  men- 
tion of  it.  Passing  by  every  other  sin, 
the  accuser  fastened  upon  this  as  the  most 
crushing,  as  well  as  the  most  unanswer- 
able of  all. 

Thus  God  found  a way  into  Israel’s 
conscience;  and  thus  it  is  (as  we  shall  see) 


ISRAEL  GUILTY, 


21 


that  he  finds  a way  into  the  sinner’s  con- 
science still.  He  forces  home  this  as  his 
main  charge,  the  charge  which  sinks  deep- 
est and  rankles  sorest, — “guilty  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  the  Lord  !,J1 

1 “ How  did  the  Spirit  convince  those  three 
thousand,  those  patterns  of  God's  converting 
grace ! Did  not  the  Lord  begin  with  them  for 
one  principal  sin,  their  murder  and  contempt  of 
Christ,  by  imbruing  their  hands  in  his  blood  ? 
There  is  no  question  but  now  they  remembered 
other  sinful  practices,  but  this  was  the  imprimis, 
which  is  ever  accompanied  with  many  other 
items , in  God's  bill  of  reckoning," — Shephekd’s 
Sound  Believer,  p.  8. 


22 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY, 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  WORLD  GUILTY. 

We  next  ask,  how  far  is  the  general 
world  involved  in  this  special  guilt?  Is  it, 
like  Israel,  “ guilty  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  the  Lord”? 

The  world  must  come  in  for  its  share 
of  guilt.  The  Gentile,  as  well  as  the  Jew, 
must  be  reckoned  a partaker  in  the  deed  of 
blood.  Even  if  the  world  could  clear  it- 
self of  the  crime  of  murder,  it  cannot  clear 
itself  from  the  guilt  of  “ consenting  to  his 
death.”  And  is  this  u consent”  not  equi- 
valent to  blood-guiltiness?  Must  the  hand 
be  red  with  blood  ere  the  charge  can  be 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY. 


23 


made  good?  Is  not  the  acquiescence  of 
the  heart  enough? 

Yes.  Israel  was  but  a part  of  the  gene- 
ral race — foremost  indeed  in  guilt,  but  still 
followed  close  behind  by  the  Gentile  mul- 
titudes. The  Jew  forms  the  inner  circle 
of  those  who  crowded  the  hall  of  Pilate, 
and  cried “ crucify,  crucify  him,” — the  in- 
ner circle  of  the  multitude  who  stood 
around  the  cross  exulting  and  deriding. 
The  Gentile  forms  the  outer  circle.  But 
the  crowd  is  the  same.  Each  circle  of  it, 
outer  as  well  as  inner,  is  animated  with 
the  same  murderous  enmity  to  the  Son  of 
God.  Each  individual  in  the  mass  breathes 
the  same  spirit,  if  he  does  not  make  Jeru- 
salem ring  with  the  same  words.  In  truth 
it  was  the  world  that  did  the  deed.  It 
was  man  that  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory. 
It  was  man  that  rejected  the  true  light 
which  came  into  the  world.  It  was  man 


24 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY. 


that  loved  the  darkness  rather  than  the 
light.  It  was  man  that  said,  “ this  is  the 
heir,  come  let  us  kill  him.”1 

But  how  is  this!  Just  as  in  the  case  of 
Israel,  all  are  included  in  the  responsibi- 
lity, for  all  have  acquiesced  in  the  deed. 
All  are  held  guilty  of  the  deed  done  be- 
neath these  skies,  and  upon  this  soil  where 
they  dwell,  unless  they  come  forth  and 
protest  against  it.  God  holds  each  hearer 
of  the  Gospel  guilty  of  the  blood  of  Christ, 
until  he  disown  the  act;  protesting  against 
it,  and  owning  this  crucified  one  as  his 
Saviour  and  Lord.  I am  not  now  speak- 
ing of  those  who  never  heard  of  a Saviour’s 
name  or  death.  I am  not  urging  their 
guilt.  I speak  of  those  before  whom  a 

1 “ Then  was  the  world  brought  to  a volun- 
tary confession  of  the  sin  of  murdering  Jesus 
Christ/' — Owen  on  the  Death  of  Christ , referring 
to  Acts  ii.  37. 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY. 


25 


crucified  Saviour  has  been  set.  In  making 
known  to  them  his  death,  is  not  God  just 
asking  their  opinion  of  it,  and  putting  it  to 
them,  whether  they  will  own  or  disown 
the  deed.  Is  he  not  saying  to  each  of  them, 
“ What  think  ye  of  this  death,  this  blood!” 
He  presses  this  point  home  upon  each 
hearer  of  the  Gospel.  If  they  give  no 
heed  to  the  message,  but  turn  away  in  in- 
difference,— or  if  they  reject  the  message 
and  despise  the  Saviour  of  whose  death  it 
speaks,  then  are  they  counted  guilty  ot 
the  blood  of  him  whom  Israel  slew.  For 
thus  they  are  “ consenting  to  his  death.” 
And  every  moment  that  a sinner  thus  re- 
mains in  unbelief,  turning  away  from  the 
Gospel,  he  is  chargeable  with  blood-guilti- 
ness. The  crime,  the  curse,  the  doom  of 
the  murderer  hangs  over  his  head. 

It  was  thus  that  Whitefield  used  to  ap- 
peal to  the  consciences  of  the  crowds  that 


26 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY. 


hung  upon  him ; and  it  was  thus  that  hio 
appeals  were  responded  to.  In  Tanner’s 
account  of  his  own  conversion,  we  have  a 
striking  example  of  this.  He  was  a ship- 
carpenter,  working  at  Plymouth,  who, 
along  with  five  others  as  ungodly  as  him- 
self, resolved  to  go  to  hear  Whitefield,  in 
order  “ to  knock  him  off  the  place  where 
he  stood.”  The  first  sermon  overawed  him 
and  drew  him  back  to  hear  a second,  which 
went  to  his  heart.  It  was  upon  “ Christ’s 
mercy  to  Jerusalem  sinners,”  from  Luke 
xxiv.  47.  “ From  these  words,”  says  Tan- 
ner, a God  the  Spirit  led  him  to  show  the 
atrocious  sin  of  crucifying  the  Lord  of 
glory;  secondly,  He  noticed  the  instru- 
ments who  perpetrated  this  dreadful  deed, 
which  were  the  Jews  and  Roman  soldiers. 
Then  came  the  never-to-be-forgotten  mo- 
ment as  it  concerned  me.  I stood  at  his 
left  hand.  He  was  not  at  this  time  look- 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY. 


27 


ing  towards  me,  but  had  just  been  obser- 
ving, ‘I  suppose,’  said  he,  ‘you  are  re- 
flecting on  the  cruelty  of  those  inhuman 
butchers  who  imbrued  their  hands  in  in- 
nocent blood.’  When,  on  a sudden,  turn- 
ing himself  towards  me  as  if  designed, 
(and  I do  believe  the  Lord  designed  it  for 
me,)  he  looked  me  full  in  the  face,  and 
cried  out,  Sinner!  thou  art  the  man  that 
crucified  the  Son  of  God . Then,  and 
never  before,  I felt  the  Word  of  God  quick 
and  powerful,  and  sharper  than  any  two- 
edged  sword.  I knew  not  whether  to 
stand  or  fall.  My  sins  seemed  all  to  stare 
me  in  the  face.  I was  at  once  convicted. 
My  heart  bursting,  mine  eyes  gushing 
forth  floods  of  tears.  I dreaded  the  in- 
stant wrath  of  God,  and  expected  that  it 
would  instantly  fall  upon  me.”1 

The  first  part,  then,  of  our  message  to 
1 Tanner's  Life,  pp.  11, 12. 


28 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY. 


each  careless  sinner  that  may  read  these 
pages,  is,  “ you  are  a crucifier  of  the  Lord 
of  glory.”  His  blood  is  upon  you;  and  it 
is  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  this 
that  God  is  requiring  at  your  hand.  From 
the  first  moment  that  you  heard  of  that 
blood  you  have  been  held  as  consenting  to 
its  shedding.  God  made  it  known  to  you, 
that  you  might  disown  the  deed.  This  you 
have  not  done.  You  have  felt  and  acted 
•precisely  as  if  that  deed  had  been  entirely 
right  and  just.  It  has  awakened  no  ab- 
horrence, no  amazement  on  your  part;  it 
has  called  forth  no  condemnation.  From 
all  that  you  have  said,  or  felt,  or  done,  one 
might  conclude  that  it  had  met  with  your 
unmingled  approval.  And  that  approval 
God  holds  you  as  giving,  by  your  conti- 
nuing in  unbelief.  He  reckons  you  guilty 
of  the  blood  of  his  only-begotten  Son. 

Do  you  sit  easy  under  this  fearful  charge 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY. 


29 


which  God  himself  makes  against  you, 
even  here,  as  an  earnest  of  what  will  be 
brought  against  you  in  the  day  of  dark 
reckoning  when  you  stand  before  the 
throne?  Think  what  it  implies.  It  means 
that  you  are  a second  Cain,  though  guiltier 
far  than  he.  Better  blood  than  that  of 
Abel’s  is  crying  out  against  you.  Your 
hands  are  red  with  blood.  And  it  is  not 
the  blood  of  the  guilty,  shed  righteously, 
but  it  is  the  blood  of  the  holy  and  the 
just, — the  blood  of  Him  “ who  did  no  sin, 
neither  was  guile  found  in  his  mouth,”—, 
who  was  “ holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  se- 
parate from  sinners,” — who  though  he  was 
rich,  for  your  sake  became  poor,  that  you 
by  his  poverty  might  be  rich.  This  is  the 
blood  that  is  laid  at  your  door.  It  is  in- 
nocent and  it  is  divine.  Such  is  your 
crime  and  such  its  infinite  aggravation. 

Do  you  shrink  from  the  charge?  Do 


30  THE  WORLD  GUILTY. 

you  plead  not  guilty?  Then  what  means 
your  long  rejection, — your  deliberate  un- 
belief? These  are  the  proofs  of  the  accu- 
sation. They  hear  full  and  fatal  witness 
against  you.  No  evidence  can  be  more 
conclusive  than  that  which  they  furnish 
against  you. 

Do  you  say,  “ I do  not  reject,  I do  not 
disbelieve.”  If  so,  then  you  have  received 
him.  Is  it  so?  Have  you  received  the 
Son  of  God  \ Then  what  has  this  recep- 
tion of  him  done  for  you?  If  it  be  such 
a reception  as  God  can  recognise,  then  are 
you  already  a son  of  God,  for  it  is  written, 
“ as  many  as  received  him  to  them  gave  he 
the  right  of  being  sons  of  God.”1  Is  it  so; 
and  are  you  in  truth  a son?  If  not,  then 
where  is  your  reception!  Are  you  not 
guilty  of  rejection  still?  If  you  have  receiv- 


1 John  i.  12. 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY. 


m 


ed  him,  then  with  him  yon  have  received 
forgiveness,  and  with  forgiveness  peace,  and 
with  peace  everlasting  life.  Is  it  so?  Are  you 
at  this  moment  in  possession  of  these?  No. 
Then  are  you  not  still  guilty  of  this  very  re- 
jection? and  if  so,  then  are  you  no  less  truly 
guilty  of  the  blood  of  the  rejected  one. 

Do  you  grow  indignant,  as  if  your  good 
name  were  slandered!  Are  you  exclaim- 
ing, “ What ! do  you  mean  to  bring  this 
man’s  blood  upon  us!”  Yes,  I do.  For 
God  has  done  so.  He  charges  it  to  your 
account.  He  lays  it  at  your  door  just  as 
Abel’s  blood  was  laid  at  the  door  of  Cain. 
Upon  you  must  that  blood  lie  till  you 
clear  yourself  of  it,  by  ceasing  your  ac- 
quiescence, and  coming  forth  to  protest 
against  the  deed,  and  thus  washing  your 
hands  clean  of  the  stain. 

Do  you  say,  “ but  how  am  I to  enter 
my  protest  against  it?”  Simply  by  be- 


32 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY, 


lieving  on  the  name  of  the  crucified,  own- 
ing him  as  your  Saviour,  and  receiving 
him  as  your  all.  This  is  the  only  way  in 
which  you  can  now  protest  against  the 
deed,  and  come  out  from  under  the  curse 
with  which  that  deed  has  burdened  you. 
And  this  is  the  way  which  God  has  ap- 
pointed for  the  sinner’s  entering  his  pro- 
test, and  being  delivered  from  the  doom  of 
the  blood-guilty.  He  has  given  you  time 
to  protest.  Many  long  years  has  he  afford- 
ed you.  Of  these  you  have  not  yet  avail- 
ed yourself,  and  thus  have  added  unspeak- 
ably to  the  infinite  crime.  Yet  still  does 
he  extend  that  space.  It  is  not  yet  too 
late.  He  is  willing,  even  up  to  this  hour, 
to  receive  your  protest ; and  in  receiving 
it,  to  receive  you  also;  not  only  acquitting 
you  from  the  charge  of  blood,  but  treat- 
ing you  as  righteous  ;l  not  only  delivering 
1 At  the  risk  of  its  boing  thought  out  of  place. 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY. 


33 


you  from  the  eternal  curse  which  that 
blood  was  drawing  over  you,  but  turning 
that  curse  into  a rich  and  endless  bless- 
ing. 

I shall  ask  the  reader’s  attention  to  the  follow- 
ing illustration  of  the  truth  embodied  in  the 
above  sentence.  It  is  from  Reichard’s  Initia  Doc - 
trince  Christiana , which  contains  an  exposition 
of  the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  justification.  I need 
not  give  the  original.  “ Justification  is  that  di- 
vine act  by  which  man  the  sinner  is  absolved 
from  all  the  guilt  and  punishment  of  his  sins  by 
reason  of  the  satisfaction  of  Christ  ; and  is  so 
reckoned  and  treated  of  God,  as  if  he  had  not 
only  committed  no  sin,  but  as  if  all  his  life  he 
had  lived  most  holily.  At  the  same  time,  we 
must  remember  that  this  divine  blessing  is  not  of 
a physical,  but  of  a moral  kind,  and  refers  wholly 
to  imputation;  since  the  substitutionary  satis- 
faction of  Jesus  Christ  is  reckoned  by  God  as 
entirely  ours.  For  this  divine  proceeding  is  like 
a forensic  transaction,  in  which  there  are  judges, 
accusers,  and  accused,  advocates,  laws,  witnesses, 
and  in  the  end  an  acquittal  from  the  charge. 
...  It  consists  of  two  parts:  the  one,  by 

D 


34 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY, 


Do  you  scoff  and  say,  like  the  murderer 
in  the  olden  time, 

A little  water  clears  us  of  the  deed ; 

How  easy  is  it  then  I 

Bear  then  the  guilt  and  brave  the  Judge. 
Refuse  to  answer  his  demand  for  a reck- 
oning on  this  score.  And  see  how  it  will 
fare  with  you.  Ah ! the  hour  is  coming, 
when  the  guilt  of  that  blood  will  he  fully 
seen ; hut  seen  too  late.  It  might  have 
been  washed  away  here;  it  cannot  be  wash- 
ed away  yonder.  It  will  spread  itself  ove* 

which,  on  account  of  Christ’s  merit,  our  guilt  is 
totally  removed;  the  other,  by  which  Christ’s 
obedience  is  held  as  ours.  For  seeing  the  divine 
law  demands,  not  only  that  we  should  commit  no 
sin,  but  that  we  should  do  all  manner  of  good, 
(neither  of  which  is  in  our  power,)  it  is  plain 
that  the  satisfaction  of  Christ  avails  us  in  a two- 
fold manner;  partly  as  he  bore  in  our  room  the 
guilt  and  punishment  of  our  sins,  and  partly  as 
he  obeyed  the  divine  law  most  perfectly  for 
US.” 


THE  WORLD  GUILTY, 


35 


your  whole  eternity  in  the  horrors  of  un- 
dying remorse  and  shame, — horrors  which 
only  blood-guiltiness  can  awaken, — hor- 
rors which  no  fallen  angel  can  experience, 
— horrors  which  none  can  taste  save  men 
who  have  first  shed  this  blood  and  then 
rejected  it.1 

1 Does  the  reader  here  call  to  mind  the  well- 
known  lines : — 

Will  all  the  mighty  ocean  wash  this  blood 
Clean  from  my  hand  ? No,  this  my  hand  will 
The  multitudinous  seas  incarnadine,  [rather 
Making  the  green,  one  red. 


* 


36 


god’s  controversy 


CHAPTER  IV. 

god’s  controversy  with  the  world. 

One  of  God’s  chief  controversies  with 
this  world  is  respecting  this  blood.  He 
has  many  other  such  controversies,  hut 
this  is  one  of  the  chief.  For  here  His  esti- 
mate and  man’s  are  at  utter  variance  with 
each  other,  in  respect  both  of  the  value 
and  efficacy  of  this  blood,  no  less  than  re- 
garding the  guilt  of  shedding  it. 

On  many  points  they  differ  in  their  esti- 
mates. As  to  the  value  of  the  soul,  of 
earth,  of  time,  of  eternity,  they  differ. 
But  here  they  differ  most  of  all:  and  on 
this  difference  the  sinner’s  eternity  hinges. 


WITH  THE  WORLD. 


37 


For  it  is  according  to  what  he  thinks  of 
this  blood  that  he  is  saved  or  lost.  This  is 
the  turning-point  of  his  salvation.  He 
may  count  it  strange  or  hard  that  his 
everlasting  welfare  should  be  thus  deter- 
mined. Yet  God  declares  that  it  must 
be  so.  He  will  not  consent  to  treat  that 
blood  so  lightly  as  the  sinner.  Nor  will 
He  consent  to  deal  favourably  with  the 
sinner  that  slights  or  scorns  that  blood. 
Here  He  is  inexorable.  For  the  honour 
of  His  own  Son  is  involved  in  it;  and  that 
honour  must  be  maintained  inviolable. 

And  why  should  it  be  thought  an  in- 
credible thing  that  it  should  be  so?  Grant 
but  that  this  blood  is  what  it  is,  the  blood 
of  God’s  beloved  Son,  and  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  see  why  He  should,  on  such  a point, 
be  so  awfully  inflexible.  Nay,  shall  we 
not  say,  how  can  it  be  otherwise?  and 
wonder  only  how  He  can  bear  so  much  as 


38 


god’s  controversy 


one  single  slight  offered  to  blood  so  pre- 
cious in  His  eyes. 

It  was  the  blood  of  one  whom  He  loved 
with  an  immeasurable  love;  and  who  was 
worthy  of  all  that  love,  even  to  the  utter- 
most. It  was  the  blood  of  Him  who  was 
the  brightness  of  Jehovah’s  glory,  and  the 
express  image  of  his  person.  How,  then, 
was  it  possible  that  he  could  overlook 
any  affront  to  the  blood  of  one  so  exalted 
and  so  loved?  How  could  he  allow  the 
foot  of  man  to  trample  on  it  with  scorn, 
or  the  eye  of  man  to  glance  past  it  with 
indifference?  He  could  not.  He  must  first 
cease  to  own  him  as  his  Son,  or  to  claim 
for  him  the  homage  of  creation,  as  heir 
and  Lord  of  all.  Besides,  had  he  not  given 
up  this  Son  for  the  ungodly?  Had  he  not 
bruised  him  and  put  him  to  grief?  Had 
he  not  allowed  that  blood  to  be  shed  for 
man?  And  if  so,  then  how  could  he  fail 


WITH  THE  WORLD. 


39 


to  resent  anything  like  ingratitude  on  the 
part  of  those  for  whom  he  had  delivered 
up  his  Son?  Specially,  how  could  he  fail 
to  be  displeased  with  any  contempt  or  in- 
difference shown  by  them  to  that  blood 
which,  for  their  sakes,  had  been  so  freely 
poured  out?  Nothing  but  love  to  us 
could  have  led  him  to  such  a sacrifice. 
He  spared  not  his  Son,  just  that  he 
might  spare  us.  He  allowed  his  life  to  be 
taken  that  ours  might  be  restored.  And 
having  provided  a ransom  so  precious  at 
such  a cost,  what  need  we  reckon  on  but 
that  he  should  he  jealous  as  to  the  recep- 
tion which  this  love  of  his  was  to  have 
among  men,  and  jealous  of  the  treatment 
which  that  blood  was  to  meet  with  at  the 
hands  of  sinners! 

We  may  wonder  indeed  that  man  should 
look  on  that  blood  with  indifference,  as  if 
it  were  a common  thing.  But  we  need 


40 


god’s  controversy 


not  wonder  that  Jehovah  should  regard 
that  indifference  as  one  of  the  blackest 
and  most  hateful  of  all  transgressions. 
Whatever  man’s  indifference  to  it  may  be, 
that  cannot  alter  God’s  estimate  of  the 
blood.  It  must  remain  the  same.  And, 
so  long  as  it  does  so,  he  must  hold  contro- 
versy with  the  world  upon  this  point. 
Men  may  think  it  a small  one.  He  does 
not,  cannot  think  so.  They  may  imagine 
that  it  is  of  little  consequence  what  their 
opinion  of  the  blood  may  he,  or  whether 
they  have  any  opinion  on  it  at  all.  But 
on  such  a point  there  is  no  indifference 
with  God.  He  cannot  lower  his  estimate 
and  price;  he  cannot  abandon  the  contro- 
versy till  the  sinner  has  come  up  to  his 
estimate,  and  learned  to  he  at  one  with 
him  respecting  the  blood  of  his  only  be- 
gotten Son, 

If  God  and  we,  then,  are  at  variance. 


WITH  THE  WORLD. 


41 


how  is  this  variance  to  cease?  Is  it  by  His 
adopting  our  judgment,  or  by  our  adopt- 
ing his?  It  cannot  be  the  former.  That 
were  blasphemy  even  to  imagine.  It  must 
be  by  the  latter.  If  God  and  we  are  to 
be  at  one,  it  must  be  by  our  thinking  as 
he  thinks,  and  feeling  as  he  feels  in  this 
matter.  We  must  take  his  estimate  of 
the  blood  of  his  Son,  else  the  variance 
cannot  cease.  It  must  be  prolonged  for 
ever. 

What  think  you,  then,  of  the  blood  of 
Christ?  Is  that  which  is  so  precious  in 
God’s  eyes  as  precious  in  yours?  Has  the 
controversy  between  him  and  you  upon 
this  point  been  solidly  adjusted?  And  are 
you  at  one  with  him  in  his  estimate  of 
the  blood  of  his  dear  Son?  If  so,  it  is  well. 
For  this  is  faith;  and  it  is  by  this  faith 
that  you  are  saved.  It  was  unbelief  that 
led  you  to  form  so  low  an  estimate  of 


42 


god’s  controversy 


that  blood,  and  it  is  faith  which  has  led 
you  to  throw  aside  your  own  estimate, 
and  adopt  that  of  God.  Thus  it  is  that 
we  believe.  The  Holy  Spirit  shows  us 
the  real  nature  of  that  blood  we  have 
been  slighting.  He  shows  us  whose  blood 
it  is, — what  wonders  it  is  intended  to  ef- 
fect,— what  power  it  has  to  cleanse, — 
what  efficacy  to  give  peace.  He  tells  us 
what  God  has  written  concerning  this 
blood.  He  tells  us  God’s  opinion  of  its 
value.  And  making  known  these  things 
to  us  he  leads  us  to  immediate  peace. 
The  new  estimate  which  he  enables  us  to 
form  of  this  at  once  infuses  peace.  If  that 
estimate  which  God  had  given  of  it  be 
true,  then  all  that  is  needful  for  our 
peace  has  been  accomplished.  That  infi- 
nitely precious  blood  sheds  peace  and 
sunshine  into  our  souls.  We  see  that 
blood  as  God  sees  it,  and  our  consciences 


WITH  THE  WORLD. 


43 


are  unburdened  — our  souls  are  set  at 
rest. 

It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  things  that  we 
could  have  peace  till  we  have  altered  our 
estimate  of  that  blood.  Even  though  no 
vengeance  hung  over  us  for  despising  it, 
still  our  not  valuing  it  would  effectually 
shut  out  our  peace.  For  in  proportion  as 
we  see  its  value,  in  that  proportion  do  we 
see  how  completely  it  has  availed  to  make 
our  peace,  to  magnify  the  law,  to  atone 
for  sin,  to  open  a fountain  for  all  unclean- 
ness. Nothing  but  infinitely  precious 
blood  could  do  such  things.  This  blood 
has  done  them  all.  We  see  this  and  the 
burden  falls  off.  We  see  this,  and  our 
consciences  are  troubled  no  more.  The 
blood  of  his  cross  has  finished  our  peace. 
And  that  finished  peace  is  all  we  need  to 
banish  every  fear. 

Poor  world!  In  what  is  thy  contro- 


44 


god’s  controversy 


versy  with  God  respecting  this  blood  to 
end?  In  life  or  death  to  thee!  If  in  life, 
then  thou  hast  much  yet  to  unlearn , as 
well  as  much  to  learn . Thou  hast  to  un- 
learn thine  own  judgment,  and  to  learn 
God’s.  In  so  doing  there  is  yet  life  for 
thee.  If  in  death,  then  what  a death  it 
will  be ! It  will  be  God’s  vengeance  for 
slighted  blood ! 

Poor  world:  Dost  thou  think  that  there 
is  no  controversy  between  thee  and  God 
on  this  point?  Then  what  means  thy  in- 
difference \ God  is  not  indifferent  in  this 
matter.  And  if  thou  art  indifferent,  is 
there  no  controversy?  Will  God  allow 
thee  to  be  indifferent  to  that  on  which  his 
whole  heart  is  set?  You  knowhow  indif- 
ference often  provokes  more  than  open 
hatred;  so  that,  even  although  there  might 
be  no  hatred,  this  indifference  is  enough 
to  “ provoke  the  eyes  of  his  glory.” 


WITH  THE  WORLD. 


45 


The  day  of  controversy  with  God  will 
soon  be  done.  He  will  not  always  allow 
man  to  war  this  warfare.  Judgment  lin- 
gereth  not*  and  damnation  slumbereth 
not.  The  day  for  the  final  settlement  of 
all  such  controversies  is  at  hand.  The 
kindling  fire  will  close  them — the  sen- 
tence of  the  Judge  will  settle  them. 

Do  you  not  know  in  what  way,  and  on 
whose  side  this  great  controversy  shall  be 
settled  ? Shall  it  be  settled  in  your  way, 
or  in  God’s;  on  his  side,  or  yours? 


46 


WHAT  GOD  THINKS 


CHAPTER  V. 

WHAT  GOD  THINKS  OF  THIS  BLOOD. 

He  counts  it  infinitely  precious, — more 
precious  than  all  corruptible  things  such 
as  gold  and  silver.  Its  value  can  only  be 
measured  by  the  greatness  of  him  from 
whom  it  flowed.  Its  efficacy,  too,  is 
boundless  in  his  eyes.  He  deems  it  avail- 
able for  the  worst  of  cases, — for  the  very 
extremity  of  guilt  and  pollution.  He 
sees  in  it  also  the  blood  of  the  “ Lamb 
without  blemish  and  without  spot.”  No 
tinge  of  sin  does  he  behold  in  it.  The 
lamb  which  Israel  was  commanded  to 
bring  was  to  b»  a “ he-lamb  of  the  first 


OF  THIS  BLOOD. 


47 


year,  without  blemish,  for  a burnt-offer- 
ing.”1 And  in  this  type  God  made  known 
what  that  Lamb  was  to  be,  by  whose 
bloodshedding,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  sin 
was  to  be  put  away.  Even  the  eye  of 
Jehovah  could  discover  no  spot  in  that 
Lamb  or  in  its  blood.  The  blood  that 
cleanseth  must  itself  be  clean ; and  such 
was  this. 

From  the  time  that  man  sinned,  God 
began  to  declare  his  mind  respecting  this 
blood,  and  to  show  the  value  which  he 
set  upon  it.  Not  only  did  he  begin  to 
make  known  to  sinners  that  without  shed- 
ding of  blood  there  could  be  no  remission 
of  sin ; but  he  began  to  declare  his  esti- 
mate of  that  blood,  that  man  might  learn 
that  it  was  no  common  blood.  From  the 
day  of  man’s  sinning  till  the  time  of  a 
Saviour’s  coming  there  was  a continual 
1 Numbers  vi.  14. 


48 


WHAT  GOD  THINKS 


testimony  kept  up  by  God  respecting  it. 
Both  by  deed  and  word,  by  promise,  by 
prophecy,  and  by  type,  this  witness-bear- 
ing was  maintained  from  age  to  age. 
Blood  without  blemish, — blood  of  infinite 
price, — this  was  the  substance  of  the  tes- 
timony. And  in  that  testimony  was 
wrapt  up  the  whole  gospel, — glad  tidings 
of  great  joy  to  man. 

On  the  foreseen  efficacy  and  available- 
ness of  that  blood  he  began  and  carried  on 
the  work  of  reconciliation  before  the  Re- 
conciler had  come.  On  the  credit  of  it 
he  began  to  save  sinners  four  thousand 
years  before  it  had  been  shed.1  For  it  was 
the  value  of  it,  irrespective  of  the  time 
when  it  should  be  actually  shed,  that 
made  it  a righteous  thing  in  God  to  bless 
the  sinner,  so  long  before  its  shedding. 
The  time  of  the  shedding  was  of  less  mo- 
1 Rom.  iii.  2 5;  Heb.  ix.  15. 


OF  THIS  BLOOD. 


49 


ment  in  the  eyes  of  him  with  whom  one 
day  is  as  a thousand  years ; but  the  value 
of  it  was  absolutely  essential  if  there  was 
to  be  such  a thing  as  substitution,  or  sin- 
bearing,  or  cleansing.  That  value  he  never 
allowed  man  to  lose  sight  of  for  a day. 

During  all  these  four  thousand  years, 
he  was  continually  speaking  of  that  blood, 
pointing  to  it,  calling  every  eye  to  gaze 
upon  it,  proclaiming  his  estimate  of  it  in 
manifold  ways.  Everything  spoken  or 
done  under  the  former  dispensation  had 
reference  to  it,  or  was  brought  into  con- 
nection with  it.  Each  altar  that  was 
reared,  from  Abel’s  down  to  that  of  Is- 
rael’s in  the  wilderness,  was  a divine  wit- 
ness to  its  efficacy.  Each  part  of  the  ta- 
bernacle,— its  curtains,  its  posts,  its  floor, 
its  lever,  its  tables,  its  vessels,  its  ark,  its 
priests, — all  were  made  to  bear  witness  to 
i Hebrews  ix.  19-22. 

B 


50 


WHAT  GOD  THINKS 


this,  either  by  the  actual  sprinkling  of  the 
blood  upon  them,  or  by  the  crimson- 
hue  of  their  carefully- wrought  and  divine- 
ly-appointed  texture. 

Though  it  was  not  possible  that  the 
blood  of  bulls  or  of  goats  could  take  away 
sin,  or  could  have  any  value  in  the  sight 
of  God,  yet  even  that  blood  was  looked 
upon  as  sacred  and  holy,  because  prefigur- 
ing the  blood  of  the  better  sacrifice.  So 
excellent  was  the  substance  that  it  seemed 
to  lend  excellence  to  the  shadow;  so  glo- 
rious was  the  antitype  that  it  cast  bright- 
ness upon  the  perishable  type,  and  impart- 
ed to  it  a beauty,  a value,  and  a reality, 
such  as  we  attach  to  the  picture  or  the 
statue  of  a beloved  friend.  So  efficacious 
was  this  blood  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  that 
it  made  available  the  blood  of  the  sacrifi- 
cial lamb  for  the  worshippers  in  Israel,  as 
to  all  outward  privileges  in  the  service  of 


OF  THIS  BLOOD. 


51 


God.  The  want  of  blood  shut  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  against  them,  and  kept  them 
without.  Without  that  blood  they  were 
treated  as  outcasts,  as  men  with  whom 
Jehovah  refused  to  deal,  and  to  whom  the 
privilege  of  even  coming  into  his  courts 
was  denied.  With  that  blood  they  might 
enter  in ; for  that  blood  was  their  title  to 
admittance, — their  only  but  their  suffi- 
cient warrant  for  taking  their  place  among 
the  worshippers  of  Jehovah.  Nay  more, 
the  very  altar  on  which  that  typical  blood 
was  shed  and  sprinkled  was  counted  holy. 

“ It  shall  be  an  altar  most  holy,”  are  the 
words  of  God  to  Moses.1  Such  was  the 
all-pervading  virtue  of  the  “ better  blood,” 
which  remained  to  be  shed  in  the  ages  yet 
to  come.  And  then,  as  if  to  add  something 
still  more  to  this^  it  is  said,  u Whatsoever 
touche th  the  altar  shall  be  holy.”  We 
1 Exodus  xxix.  37. 

U.  Of  ill.  lib. 


$2 


WHAT  GOD  THINKS 


read  of  “ the  very  shadow  of  Peter  pass- 
ing by,”  being  looked  to  for  healing ; and 
in  the  case  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  it  is  as 
if  its  very  shadow,  cast  backward  over 
Jewish  rites,  availed  to  consecrate  them, 
diffusing  an  unseen  influence  over  all  the 
services  of  the  sanctuary,  and  affixing  a 
mysterious  value  to  its  ordinances,  by 
reason  of  its  own  unutterable  efficacy  and 
excellence. 

In  the  case  of  the  typical  blood  this 
value  was  what  we  may  call  fictitious.  It 
was  not  a value  inherent  in  the  thing  it- 
self, but  pertaining  to  it  solely  by  reason 
of  its  connection  with  that  which  was  to 
come.  But  this  fictitious  value  of  the 
type  illustrates  most  vividly  the  real 
value  of  the  Antitype.  If  God  did  so 
much  for  Israel,  because  of  the  ceremo- 
nial blood  which  yet  derived  all  its  effi- 
cacy from  the  other,  what  will  he  not  do 


OF  THIS  BLOOD. 


53 


for  those  who  avail  themselves  of  that 
other  which  imparted  the  efficacy?  If  a 
sinner  of  old  might  come  into  the  courts 
of  the  Lord  as  an  accepted  worshipper 
simply  because  presenting  to  God  the 
blood  of  bulls  and  goats,  may  not  a sinner 
now  come  into  the  real,  the  immediate 
presence  of  J ehovah,  with  still  greater  cer- 
tainty of  acceptance,  simply  making  men- 
tion of  that  divine  blood  which  has  flowed 
from  the  Lamb  of  God, — the  Word  made 
flesh, — who  made  his  soul  an  offering  for 
sin,  and  gave  his  life  a ransom  for  the 
sins  of  many 

The  law  having  but  “ the  shadow  of 
good  things  to  come,”  could  “ never  with 
these  sacrifices,  which  were  offered  year 
by  year  continually,  make  the  comers 
thereunto  perfect,”  that  is,  perfect  as  per- 
taining to  the  conscience, — perfect  in  so 
1 Isaiah  liii.  10;  Matt.  xx.  28. 


54 


WHAT  GOD  THINKS 


far  as  the  entire  removal  of  guilt  from  the 
burdened  conscience  was  concerned.  Had 
it  been  able  to  do  so,  thence  “the  worship- 
pers once  purged  should  have  had  no  more 
conscience  of  sins.”1  But  what  the  law 
could  not  do  with  its  rivers  of  ritual  blood, 
that  the  one  sacrifice  of  Christ  has  done 
at  once  and  for  ever.  And  they  who  will 
but  consent  to  employ  it  in  their  transac- 
tions with  God  will  find  that  it  can  accom- 
plish for  them  those  things  which  the 
apostle  declares  could  not  be  accomplish- 
ed by  all  the  offerings  of  the  sons  of  Levi. 
It  can  “ make  the  comers  thereunto  per- 
fect;” it  can  so  purge  the  worshippers, 
that  they  “ shall  have  no  more  conscience 
of  sins.”  Let  us  but  employ  this  blood  as 
Israel  employed  the  other,  and  we  shall 
find  how  thoroughly  efficacious  it  is  to 
purge  the  guilty  concience,  to  give  perfect 
1 Hebrews  x.  1,  2. 


OF  THIS  BLOOD. 


55 


peace  to  the  troubled  soul,  and  to  bring  us 
into  the  presence  of  God  with  boldness 
and  with  joy.1 

An  Israelite,  when  his  conscience  wras 
burdened  with  sin,  had  just  to  go  to  his 
fold  and  take  thence  a lamb,  and  bring  it 
to  the  altar;  and  though  that  could  not 
do  everything  for  his  conscience,  yet  it 
could  do  much.  But  our  Lamb  is  al- 
ready slain  and  offered, — nay,  accepted 
too.  We  have  but  to  avail  ourselves  of  it, 
— to  employ  it, — nothing  more.  It  is  at 
all  times  available, — at  all  times  ready  for 
our  use.  And  we  use  it,  when,  simply  be- 
lieving what  God  has  told  us  of  its  efficacy 
and  of  his  delight  in  it,  we  go  to  him, 
in  the  full  assurance  of  faith,  with  no 
other  plea,  either  within  us  or  without  us, 
but  the  blood  alone. 

1 Hebrews  iv.  16;  is.  14. 


56 


WAYS  IN  WHICH  GOD 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WAYS  IN  WHICH  GOD  PROCLAIMS  ITS  VALUE. 

It  is  the  price  which  he  has  given  for 
the  flock — the  Church.  A ransom  of  no 
common  value  was  needed,  and  he  counts 
this  blood  so  precious  as  to  be  sufficient 
for  this.  It  was  a great  company  that 
was  to  be  ransomed — a multitude  that  no 
man  can  number;1  and  of  each  of  these 
saved  ones  the  sins  were  as  the  sea-sand, 
or  the  leaves  of  the  forest.  They  were 
“ lawful  captives,”2 — their  chains  heavy, 
their  dungeon  impregnable,  their  oppres- 
sors mighty.  It  was  a vast  ransom  that 
was  needed;  but  that  ransom  was  found. 

1 Rev.  vii.  9.  2 Isa.  xlix.  24. 


PROCLAIMS  ITS  VALUE. 


57 


The  blood  was  deemed  enough.  Right- 
eousness could  ask  no  more.  God  was 
satisfied  with  the  price. 

So  precious  does  God  esteem  it,  that  he 
deems  it  sufficient  to  pay  all  legal  de- 
mands in  full : nay,  to  magnify  the  law, 
so  that  it  becomes  as  righteous  a thing  in 
God  to  acquit  as  to  condemn  the  sinner. 
The  curse  of  the  law  is  no  longer  inevita- 
ble and  necessary.  God  is  at  liberty  to 
remove  it,  and  in  its  place  to  dispense  the 
blessing.  What  must  be  the  value  of  that 
blood  which  can  thus  transmute  the  curse 
into  a blessing — the  righteous  curse  into 
the  righteous  blessing! 

So  precious  does  God  esteem  it,  that  on 
account  of  it  he  throws  open  the  way  in- 
to the  holiest;  as  it  is  written,  “ having 
boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the 
blood  of  Jesus.”1  It  is  the  blood  that  has 
1 Heb.  x.  19. 


68 


WATS  IN  WHICH  GOD 


prevailed  to  open  up  this  way,  to  unbar 
the  gate,  to  rend  the  veil.  And  thus  that 
wray  which  would  otherwise  have  been 
death  to  the  sinner  to  attempt  to  tread, 
becomes  the  way  of  life, — the  “ living 
way;”  nay,  the  only  way  of  life, — the 
only  secure  way  for  him  to  walk  upon, — 
the  only  secure  spot  in  a fallen  world  on 
which  he  can  plant  his  foot.  And  now  it 
is  safe  for  the  sinner  to  enter  in,  and  it  is 
honourable  for  God  to  admit  him.  The 
sanctuary  is  not  defiled  by  his  entrance, 
for  the  blood  is  there  to  prevent  this.  He 
does  not  need  to  be  alarmed,  or  shrink 
back,  for  that  blood  which  opens  the  way 
gives  him  also  liberty  and  boldness  in 
coming,  removing  that  terror  of  a guilty 
conscience  which  would  keep  him  back, 
and  enabling  him  to  come  u with  a true 
heart,  and  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  hav- 
ing his  heart  sprinkled  from  an  evil  con- 


PROCLAIMS  ITS  VALUE. 


59 


science,  and  his  body  washed  with  pure 
water.” 1 

So  precious  does  God  esteem  it,  that  on 
account  of  it  alone,  without  one  particle 
of  addition  from  any  other  quarter,  he 
can  forgive,  save,  justify,  accept  even  the 
chief  of  sinners.  It  is  through  means  of 
this  blood  that  he  keeps  their  consciences 
clean  and  unburdened,  so  that,  though 
their  sense  of  sin  deepens  and  augments, 
their  sense  of  guilt  no  longer  oppresses 
them  as  before.  By  keeping  their  eye 
fixed  upon  this  precious  blood,  he  keeps 
their  souls  in  perfect  peace,  for  he  shows 
them  how  that  blood  proclaims  wrath  to 
have  been  already  exhausted  upon  ano- 
ther, and  condemnation  to  have  passed 
away.  And  thus  it  is  that  he  carries  them 
on  from  day  to  day, — that  he  may  present 
them  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his 
1 Heb.  x.  22. 


60 


WAYS  IN  WHICH  GOD 


glory  with  exceeding  joy  in  the  day  of  the 
appearing  of  his  Son.1 

So  precious  does  he  esteem  it,  that  be- 
cause of  it  he  can  come  in  and  make  his 
abode  with  the  soul, — dwelling  in  it  as 
his  chosen  temple.  It  is  the  sprinkling  of 
the  blood  upon  the  soul  (which  takes 
place  so  soon  as  we  take  God’s  word  for 
its  efficacy)  that  makes  it  fit  for  being  the 
tabernacle  of  the  Holy  One.  It  is  the 
sight  of  this  blood  that  makes  the  sinner 
feel  safe  and  happy  in  such  near  contact 
with  God;  for  otherwise  how  could  He  feel 
at  home  with  such  a guest, — the  unholy 
with  the  Holy? 

So  precious  dees  he  esteem  it,  that  he 
makes  it  the  answer  to  the  various  doubts 
and  perplexing  sophistries  with  which  self 
and  Satan  would  entangle  the  soul,  either 
when  coming  to  God,  or  after  it  has  come, 
1 Jude  24. ; Heb.  xiii.  20,  21. 


PROCLAIMS  ITS  VALUE. 


61 


Do  the  sins  of  past  years  lie  heavy  on  it  \ 
He  says,  behold  the  blood ! Does  a sense  of 
personal  unworthiness  darken  it  \ He  says 
again,  behold  the  blood;  and  in  it,  that 
which  fully  makes  up  in  my  eyes  for  all 
such  unworthiness ! Do  iniquities  prevail, 
— rushing  in  like  a flo>d  through  every 
avenue  of  the  soul?  Ho  says  again,  behold 
the  blood;  it  “ cleanseth  from  all  sin.”1 
No  amount  of  defilement  can  dilute  the 
efficacy  of  that  blood,  or  make  it  less  free 
to  the  polluted  soul. 

So  precious  does  he  esteem  it,  that  on 
account  of  its  rejection  he  will  condemn 
the  world.  Contempt  for  it  is  reckoned  a 
sin  so  great,  that  the  world’s  doom  will 
hang  on  this.  “ Counting  the  blood  of 
the  covenant  an  unholy  thing,”  or  treat- 
ing it  as  if  it  were  such,  w ill  be  the  cause 
of  that  “ sorer  punishment”  of  which  the 
1 Eph.  i.  7;  1 John  i.  17. 


62 


WAYS  IN  WHICH  GOD 


apostle  speaks  so  awfully,  as  overhanging 
the  unbelieving  soul.1  Even  now  this  is 
his  condemnation,  his  sin  of  sins.  He  is  a 
despiser  of  the  blood.  For  this  the  “ wrath 
of  God  abideth  upon  him,”  even  here.  He 
may  not  feel  its  weight;  but  still  it  is 
there. 

And  this  is  God’s  answer  to  all  our  self- 
righteous  pleas  in  vindication  of  our  own 
worthiness  or  goodness.  “Ye  have  shed 
the  blood  of  my  Son.”  This  is  enough. 
We  may  fancy  that  we  are  of  good  repute 
with  men,  possessing  much  that  is  love- 
able and  excellent  about  us;  but  this  is 
God’s  reply  to  such  ideas  of  self,  and  such 
pleadings  in  behalf  of  self.  “Ye  crucified 
him  whom  I sent  into  the  world.”  Nor 
are  you  ashamed  of  the  deed.  You  do  not 
disown  it.  Nay,  you  act  as  if  you  deemed 
that  there  was  nothing  amiss  about  you 
1 Heb.  x.  29. 


PROCLAIMS  ITS  VALUE. 


63 


in  this  respect.  Can  you  then  justify 
yourselves?  Are  not  your  hands  full  of 
blood,  which,  if  it  do  not  justify,  will  in- 
evitably condemn  you;  which,  if  it  do  not 
raise  you  to  heaven,  will  sink  you  to  the 
lowest  hell. 

It  is  not  in  one  way,  but  in  many  that 
God  has  made  known  to  us  his  sense  of  the 
value  of  this  blood, — so  that  there  might 
be  no  possibility  of  a mistake  on  our  part, 
— so  that  if  we  had  eyes  we  could  not  hut 
see,  if  we  had  ears  we  could  not  but  hear. 
It  is  not  one  proclamation,  but  a thousand 
that  he  has  made  of  it.  For  each  of  the 
different  points  we  have  been  referring  to 
is  a new  proclamation. 

It  would  be  well  that  we  fully  under- 
derstood  this,  for  then  should  we  see  how 
far  behind  we  are  in  our  appreciation  of 
this  blood.  Who  is  there  amongst  us  that 
possesses  aught  like  an  adequate  know- 


64 


WAYS  IN  WHICH  GOD 


ledge  or  estimate  of  this  infinitely  precious 
blood?  We  use  words  expressive  of  its 
value;  but  beyond  the  words  we  seem  to 
be  profoundly  dark.  Most  men  imagine 
that  they  know  its  value  sufficiently  al- 
ready, and  that  what  they  need  is  not  a 
higher  estimate  of  the  blood,  but  a deeper 
impression  wrought  in  them  by  the  esti- 
mate which  they  now  possess*  But  is  it 
so?  Is  this  the  whole  evil?  Is  this  its 
root?  No.  Whatever  they  may  suppose 
that  they  have,  let  them  know  this,  that 
it  is  just  in  their  estimate  of  the  blood  that 
they  are  deficient.  Unwilling  as  they  may 
be  to  credit  this,  yet  it  is  true.  The  seat 
of  the  disease  is  here.  The  root  of  bitter- 
ness is  here.  And  it  is  a much  deeper  root 
than  they  are 'willing  to  own. 

Instead  then  of  taking  for  granted,  that 
their  estimate  of  the  blood  is  correct  and 
suitable,  and  that  all  they  need  is  to  work 


PROCLAIMS  ITS  VALUE. 


05 


themselves  into  a better  frame,  they  ought 
to  look  far  deeper,  and  ask,  Have  I at 
this  moment  any  right  or  real  estimate  of 
this  blood  at  all?  If  I had,  could  I be 
thus  disquieted  and  shaken  with  doubt! 
Are  not  these  doubts  the  unambiguous 
evidence  that  I am  at  fault  in  my  esti- 
mate? 

If  so,,  then,  let  the  remedy  be  applied  to 
the  real  seat  of  the  disease.  Let  us  turn 
our  eye  to  the  blood,  and  to  the  various 
ways  in  which  God  has  proclaimed  its  im- 
measurable value.  Let  us  look  narrowly 
into  each  one  of  these,  and  read  in  them 
the  true  value  attached  to  it  by  him  who 
gave  it  to  be  shed.  I know  no  better  way 
of  removing  doubts,  and  that  not  for  a 
season,  but  of  displacing  them  for  ever, 
than  bringing  fully  and  deliberately  be- 
fore us  those  different  facts  in  which  God 
has  so  brightly  embodied  his  proclamation 

F 


60 


WAY  IN  WHICH  GOD,  BTC. 


of  its  value.  Let  us  never  cease  to  gaze 
upon  them.  And  when  the  spirit  droops, 
or  Satan  whispers  doubt,  let  us  gaze  at 
them  again;  returning  continually  to  those 
same  points,  which,  as  the  Holy  Spirit 
opens  our  eyes,  will  broaden  and  brighten 
upon  our  gaze,  till  we  understand,  in  some 
adequate  measure,  the  infinite  excellency 
of  this  divine  blood,  one  sight  of  which  is 
enough  to  allay  the  storm  of  the  most 
guilt-stricken  conscience  that  ever  trem- 
bled under  a broken  law 


THE  CARELESS  SINNER’S  THOUGHTS,  ETC,  67 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  CARELESS  SINNER’S  THOUGHTS 
CONCERNING  IT, 

Perhaps  there  is  nothing  connected  with 
Christ  and  his  work  which  the  careless  sin- 
ner slights  so  much  as  the  blood.  In  his 
eyes  it  has  no  value  and  no  attraction.  He 
dislikes  all  reference  to  it  in  connection 
with  salvation.  Thus  he  tramples  it  un- 
der foot. 

He  thinks  less  of  it,  lays  less  stress  up- 
on it,  ascribes  to  it  less  of  sacredness  and 
of  value  than  a Jew,  or  even  a heathen, 
in  regard  to  the  blood  of  their  victims. 
Its  very  name  is  repulsive,  as  if  the  men- 
tion of  it  suggested  only  what  was  unplea- 


G8 


TEE  CARELESS  SINNER^ 


sant  and  unnatural.  To  owe  salvation  to 
this  blood  alone,  seems  not  only  unreason- 
able, but  hateful.  Words  such  as  these, 
“ by  his  stripes  we  are  healed,”  have  no 
relish,  and  no  meaning  to  him.  They  who 
make  reference  to  the  blood,  are  perhaps 
accused  of  want  of  refinement  and  delicacy, 
or  despised  as  enthusiasts  and  mystics. 
Thus,  “ the  blood  of  the  Lamb”  is  trifled 
with  or  despised,  or  scoffed  at  in  the  wan- 
tonness of  unbelief. 

It  was  so  when  Christ  was  on  earth. 
From  his  cradle  to  his  cross  this  contempt 
was  exhibited.  Herod  sought  to  shed  his 
blood  in  infancy.  The  people  of  Nazareth, 
“ where  he  had  been  brought  up,”  laid 
hands  upon  him  that  they  might  slay  him. 
Frequently  throughout  his  ministry  his 
life  was  aimed  at,  as  if  it  would  have  been 
a light  thing  to  shed  his  blood.  And  when 
betrayed  at  last,  thirty  pieces  of  silver  was 


THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  IT. 


G9 


the  goodly  price  at  which  his  blood  was 
valued ! It  was  all  that  man  would  give 
for  it ! Then  in  their  eagerness  to  shed  it, 
they  urged  Pilate  to  put  him  to  death, 
crying,  “ Crucify  him,  crucify  him,”  pre- 
ferring Barabbas  to  Jesus,  setting  a high- 
er price  on  the  blood  of  the  robber  than 
on  that  of  the  Son  of  God.  And  as  if  to 
show  their  utter  disregard  for  it, — as  if 
in  mockery  of  it, — they  volunteered  to  bear 
the  curse  which  that  blood  might  bring 
down  on  its  shedders, — “ his  blood  be  up- 
on us  and  on  our  children.”1  Then,  last- 
ly, on  the  cross  it  was  poured  out  like 
water.  The  thorns,  the  scourge,  the  nails, 
the  spear,  were  man’s  instruments  for 
draining  that  blood,  that,  flowing  down 
upon  the  ground,  it  might  be  trodden 
under  foot,  and  treated  as  the  vilest  thing 
on  earth.  So  vile  did  they  reckon  it,  that 
1 Matt,  xxvii.  25. 


70 


THE  CARELESS  SINNERS 


though  bent  on  shedding  it,  they  would 
not  allow  this  to  be  done  within  Jerusa- 
lem. It  must  be  shed  “ without  the  city,” 
as  if  it  would  have  been  pollution  to  the 
temple  of  God,  and  the  dwellings  of  Israel, 
to  have  allowed  it  to  be  shed  within  its 
consecrated  walls.  They  treated  it  as  the 
blood  of  one  who  was  not  only  unworthy 
to  live , but  unworthy  even  to  die  within 
J erusalem.1 

Such  were  man’s  thoughts  respecting 
the  blood  in  the  days  when  Christ  was 
here.  Such  was  his  estimate  of  its  value, 
such  his  idea  of  its  sacredness. 

And  in  this,  do  we  not  see  not  only  in- 
difference, but  contempt, — not  only  con- 
tempt, but  mockery, — not  only  mockery, 
but  hatred?  In  this  treatment  of  the 
blood  of  Christ,  do  we  not  discover  the  na- 
1 Heb.  xiii.  11, 12;  Lev.  xvi.  27;  Numb.  xix.  1-10, 


THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  IT. 


71 


tural  heart  of  man  speaking  out,  or  rather 
acting  out  its  enmity? 

It  is  still  the  same.  There  has  been  no 
relenting  on  man’s  part:  no  softening  of 
the  carnal  heart.  His  estimate  of  the 
blood  has  not  risen  higher  since  these 
days.  His  indifference  and  his  enmity  are 
unremoved.  And  sometimes  we  find  the 
former  of  these,  and  sometimes  the  latter, 
in  exercise.  When  the  subject  is  not 
pressed  home  upon  his  conscience  so  as  to 
confront  him,  it  is  indifference  that  we 
find.  When  that  blood  is  presented  to 
him,  and  he  is  told  of  its  power  either  to 
cleanse  or  to  condemn,  and  of  his  own  in- 
terest in  it,  so  that  it  must  either  be  for  or 
against  him  for  ever,  then  his  displeasure 
awakes:  the  hidden  enmity  of  his  soul 
comes  up,  and  he  manifests  a feeling  of 
hatred,  such  as  would  have  placed  him. 


72 


THE  CARELESS  SINNER’S 


perhaps,  among  the  foremost  ranks  of  the 
crucifiers.1 

Even  should  he  remain  calm  and  can- 
did, he  will  not  admit  the  preciousness  of 
the  blood,  or  the  claims  which  it  has  upon 
him.  Claims!  He  rejects  the  thought. 
He  think  he  does  well  if  he  admits  that  it 
is  the  blood  of  a holy  man  shed  without 
cause.  But  as  to  the  claims  of  blood  shed 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  this  seems 
monstrous.  He  does  not  see  how  blood  shed 
so  many  centuries  ago  can  affect  his  pre- 
sent or  his  future  condition,  either  for 
condemnation  or  salvation.  He  deems 
it  unreasonable  in  us  to  ply  him  with  such 
an  idea,  and  thinks  it  would  be  unjust  in 
God  to  deal  with  him  in  such  a way  and 
on  such  terms  as  these. 

1 “ Unbelief  in  its  essence,  is  nothing  else  than 
mockery  of  the  Lord.” — Frederick  Arndt — Ser - 
man  on  “ Chi'ist  between  the  two  thieves  ” 


THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  IT.  73 


Even  should  he  he  disposed  to  listen 
with  more  than  candour, — with  something 
like  commencing  anxiety  and  teachable- 
ness, he  still  stumbles  at  this  stumbling 
stone.  He  does  not  see  how  this  blood 
alone , without  one  good  thing  in  himself, 
can  justify.  Forgetting  that  it  is  what 
God  sees  in  the  blood  that  gives  it  all  its 
justifying  and  cleansing  power,  he  refuses 
to  receive  the  truth  concerning  forgive- 
ness of  sin  solely  through  the  blood  of  the 
cross.  He  does  not  understand  how  the 
sight  of  that  blood  alone  should  give 
peace  to  the  troubled  spirit,  and  allay  its 
rising  storms.  It  seems  incredible  that  in 
simply  believing  God’s  testimony  concern- 
ing that  blood,  our  consciences  are  purged 
from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God. 

Such  is  man’s  sense  of  the  value  of  this 
blood ! How  different  from  God’s ! And 
is  it  conceivable  that  God  can  allow  such 


74  THE  CARELESS  SINNER’S  THOUGHTS,  ETC. 

a difference  of  opinion  to  exist  between 
him  and  the  sinner,  on  a matter  in  which 
his  own  honour,  and  the  honour  of  his 
Son  are  concerned,  and  yet  treat  this  dif- 
ference as  trivial?  Is  it  possible  that  God 
would  give  that  blood  to  be  shed  for  sin- 
ners, and  yet  allow  them  to  treat  it  as 
they  please,  either  rejecting  it  or  despis- 
ing it  as  each  one  may  think  fit? 

Careless  sinner!  Trifle  not  with  that 
blood.  It  is  too  precious  to  be  sported  with 
or  slighted.  And  woe  be  to  him  who,  either 
by  indifference,  or  denial,  or  derision, 
shows  that  he  has  dared  to  form  an  esti- 
mate of  it  different  from  that  of  God, 


THOUGHTS  OF  THE  AWAKENED,  ETC,  75 


CHAP.  VIII. 

THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  AWAKENED  SINNER 
CONCERNING  IT. 

His  sleep  has  been  broken.  The  voice 
of  God  has  spoken  to  his  inner  ear,  and 
the  Spirit  has  been  laid  npon  him  in 
power.  He  is  no  longer  at  ease  as  here- 
tofore. His  iniquities  have  risen  up  be- 
fore his  face,  and  his  soul  is  wounded 
within  him. 

Forgiveness  now  seems  of  all  things  the 
most  desirable,  the  most  absolutely  neces- 
sary. To  be  without  it  even  for  another 
hour  seems  terrible.  The  pressure  of 
God’s  wrath  is  felt  to  be  intolerable.  “ My 


76  THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  AWAKENED 

punishment  is  greater  than  1 can  bear,”  is 
the  utterance  of  his  overburdened  spirit. 

One  who  had  passed  through  this  dark 
defile  thus  describes  his  feelings.  “ I con- 
tinued dull  and  thoughtful,  nor  could 
sights  and  songs  divert  my  trouble. 
Though  the  sun  shone  beautifully,  and  the 
day  was  pleasant,  it  brought  no  comfort 
to  me.  I came  to  my  house  heavy  and 
disconsolate,  and  would  have  prayed,  but 
could  not.  My  grief  was  too  great,  and 
increased  night  and  day  exceedingly.  . . 
• . . When  I was  walking  in  the  fields 
or  roads,  everything  appeared  so  strange 
and  wild,  that  I often  resolved  not  to  look 
up,  and  wished  to  fly  to  some  solitary 
place,  where  I might  dwell  in  a cave  lying 
on  the  leaves  of  trees,  and  feeding  on  the 
natural  fruits  of  the  earth.  Whosoever  I 
met,  I envied  their  happiness.  Whatever 
I heard  grieved  me,  and  whatever  I said 


SINNER  CONCERNING  IT. 


77 


or  did  so  troubled  me,  that  I repented 
that  I stirred  or  broke  silence.  If  I 
laughed  at  anything,  my  heart  smote  me 
immediately.  . . . Often  such  a con- 

fusion of  thought  came  over  me  in  bed, 
that  I was  forced  to  rise  and  walk  about 
the  chamber.  My  sorrows  were  so  mul- 
tiplied, that  I was  even  buried  in  afflic- 
tion. Then  was  I weary  of  life,  and  of- 
ten prayed  that  God  would  hide  me  in 
the  grave ; or  at  least  suffer  me  to  be  mad, 
that  I might  not  be  sensible  of  my  many 
misfortunes.  The  night  was  more  bur- 
densome than  the  day.  I started  at  every 
thing  that  stirred  in  the  dark,  fancying  I 
should  see  apparitions  in  the  corners  of 
the  room,  behind  me,  or  in  my  way,  and 
being  continually  afraid  of  meeting  the 
devil.  The  more  I was  assured  of  a di- 
vine Ruler,  by  his  repeated  scourges,  and 
the  want  of  him  in  my  heart,  the  &ore 


78  THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  AWAKENED 

Satan  pressed  me  to  believe  myself  quite 
forsaken ; and  when  I looked  up  toward 
heaven,  I said,  ‘ All,  I have  no  part  there; 
the  gate  of  that  holy  city  is  closed  to  every 
sinner,  and  no  impure  thing  can  enter 
therein.*  Alas!  what  shall  I do  in  the 
day  of  judgment!  How  shall  I meet  the 
Lord,  when  he  shall  come  in  flaming  fire. 
Such  clouds  covered  me  that  I stood  still 
and  fixed  my  heavy  eyes  on  the  trees, 
walls,  and  ground,  amazed  above  measure, 
and  often  crying  with  a bitter  cry,  ‘What 
must  I do  to  be  saved?’  No  temporal 
blessing  could  satisfy  my  craving  soul,  or 
make  me  wish  to  stay  behind  on  the  earthr 
a day.  The  shining  of  the  sun,  the  beauty 
of  the  spring,  the  voice  of  singing,  the 
melody  of  birds,  the  shade  of  trees,  or  the 
murmur  of  waters,  afforded  me  no  plea- 
sure. No.  All  was  strange,  and  dark, 
and  gloomy,  and  desolate.  All  was  vanity 


SINNER  CONCERNING  IT. 


79 


and  vexation  of  spirit.  All  the  earth 
seemed  full  of  darkness ; nor  could  meat, 
drink,  or  raiment  give  me  any  comfort.  I 
wanted  only  to  know  if  I had  any  part  in 
the  Lord  Jesus.”1 

When  thus  aroused,  the  sinner  begins 
to  bethink  himself,  and  to  ask,  Is  there 
any  way  of  escape?  He  is  told  of  the 
blood  of  Christ.  But  then  he  remembers 
that  this  is  the  very  blood  he  has  betrayed, 
and  trodden  on  so  long.  He  sees  it  to  be 
precious  blood.  He  sees  it  to  be  the  blood 
of  the  Holy  One.  He  is  confounded.  How 
can  his  contempt  for  it  be  forgiven? 

Still  he  sees  that  it  is  through  this  blood 
alone  that  salvation  can  come  to  him, — 
that  this  is  the  only  channel  through 
which  God  can  dispense  forgiveness.  But 
then  perhaps  its  infinite  purity  and  holi- 
ness alarm  him.  “ What  has  an  unholy 
1 Life  of  Rev.  John  Cennick. 


80  THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  AWAKENED 

soul  to  do  with  blood  so  spotless blood 
of  which  he  was  one  of  the  shedders.  He 
would  almost  shrink  from  it,  as  Cain  from 
the  blood  of  Abel.  Had  it  been  less  pure, 
he  thinks  it  would  have  suited  better  one 
so  impure  as  he. 

But  as  the  Holy  Spirit  opens  his  eyes, 
and  lets  in  the  light,  he  sees  that  it  is  just 
its  purity  that  makes  it  so  suitable ; and 
that  had  it  been  less  pure,  it  would  not 
have  done  for  him.  Had  one  stain  been 
found  upon  it,  there  could  have  been  no 
hope  for  the  guilty.  And  thus  fixing  his 
eye  upon  it,  and  seeing  it  in  these  two  as- 
pects, its  purity  and  its  preciousness,  he  is 
satisfied.  His  conscience  is  pacified.  He 
feels  what  it  is  to  have  “peace  through 
the  blood  of  the  cross.”  For  to  see  that 
blood,  and  to  know  what  God  thinks  of  it, 
is  health  and  peace  and  consolation  to  the 
eoul. 


SINNER  CONCERNING  IT. 


81 


It  is  not  my  looking  to  the  blood  in  con- 
junction with  my  looking  to  my  own  act 
of  seeing  that  brings  this  peace.  It  is  my 
simple  and  direct  looking  to  the  blood.  It 
is  in  looking  that  I am  blest;  not  in 
thinking  about  my  looking.  To  look  to 
the  blood  is  to  be  cleansed ; to  look  away 
from  the  blood,  to  self,  or  to  the  world, 
or  to  sin,  is  to  arrest  the  cleansing  process 
and  to  neutralize  the  healing  power. 
The  more  I see  of  the  matchless  value  of 
that  blood,  and  understand  the  substitu- 
tion of  life  for  life,  which  that  blood 
proclaims,  and  to  which  it  is  ever  point- 
ing, the  more  will  my  peace  be  like  a 
river. 

Look  at  yon  Israelite  approaching  the 
altar  ! His  conscience  is  burdened.  Guilt 
has  cast  its  shadow  over  his  soul.  But  he 
comes  to  the  altar.  He  sees  the  blood  that 
is  sprinkled  upon  it,  and  streaming  down 

G 


82  THB  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  AWAKENED 

its  sides,  and  he  is  comforted.  The  burden 
rolls  off.  Peace  takes  possession  of  his 
soul.  For,  that  which  he  saw  in  the  blood 
dispelled  his  fears  by  showing  him  the 
wrath  of  God  against  his  sin  passing  off  to 
the  substitute  and  exhausting  itself  on  it. 
It  is  the  sight  of  the  blood  alone  that  re- 
lieves his  laden  conscience.  He  does  not 
first  look  at  the  blood  and  then  at  himself 
before  he  can  take  comfort.  He  does  not 
imagine  that  he  must  couple  together  the 
sight  of  the  blood  and  the  reflection  upon 
his  own  act  of  seeing  before  he  can  be  un- 
burdened. He  does  not  thrust  away  the 
blessed  light  that  is  streaming  in  from  that 
peace- speaking  altar,  till  he  has  satisfied 
himself  that  he  is  looking  aright.  He  does 
not  say,  Am  I standing  in  the  right  posi- 
tion,— have  I approached  with  becoming 
reverence, — have  I fixed  my  eye  properly 
upon  the  altar, — am  I exercising  my  vi- 


SINNER  CONCERNING  IT. 


83 


sual  organs  aright, — is  my  seeing  of  the 
right  and  genuine  kind?  No.  He  is  so  en- 
grossed with  the  altar  that  he  has  no  time 
nor  heart  to  think  about  himself.  He  says 
in  the  gladness  of  his  soul,  “ Yonder  is  the 
altar,  and  that  is  the  lamb,  and  there  is 
the  blood  streaming  down ; I am  satisfied; 
this  is  all  I need ; the  sight  which  my  eyes 
now  behold  gives  the  full  answer  to  all  my 
doubts,  and  rebukes  my  saddening  fears.,, 

Or  take  the  Israelite  in  his  dwelling, 
when  the  destroying  angel,  with  the  sword 
of  God,  went  abroad,  smiting  the  first-born 
of  Egypt.  What  preserved  the  Israelites! 
The  blood.  That  was  a defence  which 
was  impregnable.  From  it  even  the  mis- 
sioned angel  must  turn  away.  The  blood 
stood  sentinel  at  the  gates  of  each  Israelit- 
ish  dwelling,  and  its  inmates  were  secure. 

What  should  we  have  thought  of  any 
son  of  Israel  reasoning  himself  out  of  hi§ 


84  THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  AWAKENED 

privilege  by  doubting  the  efficacy  of  the 
blood  ? What  should  we  have  thought  of 
such  an  one  standing  trembling  within  his 
house,  as  if  he  could  not  reckon  on  safety? 
The  lamb  had  been  killed ; but  he  is  afraid 
it  had  not  been  killed  aright!  the  blood 
had  been  sprinkled ; but  he  is  afraid  that 
it  has  not  been  sprinkled  aright.  Both 
lintel  and  posts  are  streaming  with  it ; but 
he  fears  his  motives  were  not  right,  and 
his  feelings  were  not  what  they  ought  to 
have  been ! Thus  he  stands  troubled  and 
trembling,  not  knowing  but  that  the  angel 
may  break  through  and  smite  him. 
Should  we  not  accuse  such  an  one  of  sad 
and  sinful  unbelief?  Should  we  not  say, — 
the  lamb  has  been  slain,  the  blood  has  been 
sprinkled,  the  posts  are  all  red  with  it;— 
is  not  this  enough  to  quiet  your  fear?  What 
would  you  have  more  ? Would  you  slay 
another  lamb  to  make  up  the  deficiency? 


SINNER  CONCERNING  IT. 


85 


Has  not  God  told  you  that  one  is  enough  1 
If  the  blood  be  ineffectual,  wipe  it  off  and 
i*un  the  risk.  Do  you  say  “ but  I do  not 
sec  the  blood,  it  is  on  the  outside  and  there- 
fore invisible  to  me.”  "Well,  but  God  sees 
it,  and  that  is  enough.  The  angel  sees  it, 
and  that  turns  him  away.  Is  it  not  writ- 
ten “ when  I see  the  blood,  I will  pass 
over  you.”1 

So  with  the  anxious  spirit.  We  bring 
it  good  news.  The  Lamb  has  been  slain, 
the  Lamb  of  God,  as  it  is  written,  “ it 
pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  him.”2  His 
blood  has  been  shed  and  sprinkled  and  ac- 
cepted ; and  that  shed  blood  is  for  the  re- 
mission of  sin,  and  for  reconciling  us  to 
God.  That  blood  is  intended  to  set  us  in 
the  plaae  of  the  innocent ; to  bring  us  nigh 
to  God  just  as  if  we  had  never  separated ; 
to  be  our  recommendation  to  God,  so  that, 
1 Exodus  xii.  8.  2 Isa.  liii.  10. 


8G  THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  AWAKENED 


coming  with  it  as  our  plea,  we  may  ex- 
pect to  be  treated  by  God  as  he  is  treated 
whose  blood  we  thus  recognise  and  rest 
on.1 

Oh!  what  a message  of  peace  should 
these  words  convey  to  the  weary  soul, — 
“ when  I see  the  blood.”  Our  seeing  may 

1 It  is  thus  that  a deep  thinker  of  the  present 
age  addresses  himself  to  such  as  you,  “ Do  you  re- 
joice when  the  atonement  made  by  the  Priest  has 
removed  the  evil  stain  from  your  name,  restored 
you  to  your  privileges  as  a son  of  Abraham,  and 
replaced  you  in  the  respect  of  your  brethren? 
There  is  an  atonement  which  takes  away  a deeper, 
worse  stain,  an  eating  cankerspot  in  the  very 
heart  of  your  personal  being ! This,  to  as  many 
as  receive  it,  gives  the  privilege  to  become  sons 
of  God  (John  i.  12);  this  will  admit  to  the  society 
of  angels,  and  insure  to  you  the  rights  of  brother- 
hood with  spirits  made  perfect ! (Heb.  xii.  22.) 
There  is  a sacrifice,  a sin-offering,  and  a High 
Priest,  who  is  indeed  a mediator,  who  not  in 
type  or  shadow  but  in  very  truth,  and  in  his  own 
right  stands  in  the  place  of  man  to  God,  and  of 
God  to  man.*' — Coleridge— Aids  to  Reflection . 


SINNER  CONCERNING  IT. 


87 


be  imperfect  and  dim, — but  it  is  not  on 
our  seeing  that  we  are  called  to  rest.  It  is 
God’s  seeing  that  is  our  security;  and  the 
knowledge  of  this  is  the  expulsion  of  fear 
and  doubt,  the  entrance  of  peace  and  joy. 

Thus  an  old  divine  speaks : “What  other 
religions  seek,  the  Christian  religion  only 
finds,  even  a solid  foundation  for  true  peace 
and  settlement  of  conscience.  While  the 
Jew  seeks  it  in  vain  in  the  law,  the  Ma- 
hometan in  his  external  observances,  the 
Papist  in  his  merits,  the  believer  only 
finds  in  the  blood  of  this  great  sacrifice. 
This  and  nothing  less  than  this  can  pacify 
a distressed  conscience,  labouring  under 
the  weight  of  its  own  guilt.  Conscience 
demands  no  less  to  satisfy  it  than  God  de- 
mands to  satisfy  him.  The  grand  inquest 
of  conscience  is,  ‘ Is  God  satisfied?  If  he 
be  satisfied,  I am  satisfied.’ 1,1 

1 Flavfel—*  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  149. 


88  THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  AWAKENED 

If  then  we  are  content  to  take  this  blood 
as  our  plea  and  recommendation,  we  may 
go  to  him  with  all  confidence  and  glad 
anticipation  of  success.  As  sinners  whose 
only  introduction  to  Him  is  the  blood,  He 
is  most  willing  to  receive  us.  To  come 
with  any  thing  else  than  the  blood  as  our 
introduction  is  most  certainly  to  secure 
for  ourselves  rejection ; but  to  come  with 
it  alone  is  to  ensure  that  blessed  welcome 
which  the  blood  has  never  yet  failed  to 
obtain  for  the  vilest  sinner  that  ever  went 
to  God  with  it  as  his  only  plea. 

The  words  which  once  gave  peace  to  a 
convicted  soul1  were  these : “ whom  God 
hath  set  forth  for  a propitiation,  through 
faith  in  his  blood,  to  declare  his  righteous- 
ness for  the  remission  of  sins.”  The  good 
news  which  these  words  contain  are  for 
you  as  well  as  for  him.  He  found  in  them 
1 Col.  Gardiner. 


SINNER  CONCERNING  IT. 


89 


Comething  whereon  both  to  live  and  to  die, 
— something  which  lifted  off  the  burden  of 
his  guilt  and  became  the  spring  of  a godly 
and  devoted  life.  And  why  should  you 
turn  away  from  the  free  love  which  that 
blood  proclaims  21 

1 “ But,  alas ! some  may  object,  and  say,  that 
their  very  faith,  which  must  carry  the  rest  of 
their  filth  to  the  fountain  of  Christ's  blood,  is  de- 
filed. How,  then,  can  they  expect  to  be  made 
clean?  Answer.  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
sufficiently  able  to  wash  all  our  filth  away;  and 
the  filth  of  faith,  as  well  as  of  other  actions. 
Therefore,  when  faith,  as  a hand,  is  carrying  the 
filth  of  the  soul  away  to  Christ  to  be  washed  in 
his  blood,  let  the  foul  hand  go  with  the  foul 
handful;  give  Christ  faith  and  all  to  wash. 

“2.  But  what  shall  I do,  when,  notwithstanding 
of  all  this,  my  conscience  shall  still  accuse  me  of 
uncleanness,  and  cry  out  against  me  as  filthy  and 
abominable?  Answer.  Take  it  away  also  to  the 
blood  of  Jesus,  that  there  it  may  be  purged,  Heb. 
ix.  14;  and  here  alone  will  we  ‘get  our  hearts 
sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience.'  Heb.  x.  22. 
The  conscience  must  be  steeped,  so  to  speak,  in 


90  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  AWAKENBD,  ETC. 

the  blood  of  J esus,  and  so  it  shall  be  clean.  And 
taking  our  filthy  hearts  to  this  cleansing  foun- 
tain to  be  washed,  we  will  get  them  delivered 
and  sprinkled  from  an  evil  cosncience,  that  it 
shall  no  more  have  ground  of  accusation  against 
us.  When  we  have  it  to  say,  that  we  have  put 
our  filthy  souls  in  the  hand  of  the  great  cleanser, 
Jesus  Christ,  and  brought  all  our  pollutions  to 
his  blood,  what  can  conscience  say  to  us?  The 
Lord,  it  is  true,  may  suffer  our  conscience  still  to 
bark  upon  us,  and  cast  up  our  filthiness  to  us, 
that  we  may  be  the  more  humbled,  and  be  put 
to  lie  more  constantly  at  the  fountain;  yet  when 
we  have  fled  to  Christ,  and  taken  our  filthiness 
to  the  open  and  appointed  fountain,  we  can  an- 
swer the  accusations  of  conscience  in  law,  and 
have  peace/' — Brown — Christ  the  Way , the 
Truth,  and  the  Life,  pp.  178, 179. 


TUB  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  SAINT,  ETC.  91 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  SAINT  CONCERNING  IT. 

After  many  a struggle  and  after  many 
a refusal  to  admit  into  his  soul  the  peace 
that  comes  from  the  knowledge  of  this 
blood,  his  eyes  have  been  fully  opened  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  see  its  efficacy  and  suit- 
ableness. To  one  who  had  no  conscious- 
ness of  guilt  burdening  him, — no  distrac- 
tion of  soul  nor  misgivings  of  conscience 
as  to  his  standing  in  the  sight  of  God, 
the  blood  must  appear  as  unnatural  as 
unnecessary ; but  to  one  whose  conscience 
is  awake,  whose  indifference  about  sin  is 
gone,  who  has  known  what  it  is  to  groan 


92 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


by  reason  of  the  “body  of  death,” — the 
blood  is  the  very  thing  that  he  feels  his 
need  of  to  pacify  conscience  and  to  bring 
him  to  God  as  one  from  whom,  in  believing, 
the  wrath  due  to  his  iniquities  has  passed 
away  for  ever.1 

He  has  seen  sin  in  the  light  in  which 
God  sees  it ; but  he  has  also  seen  the  blood 
in  that  same  light  also.  He  has  looked  at 
the  blood  from  the  point  at  which  God 
looks  at  it,  and  his  soul  has  rested  from 
its  conflicts  and  its  fears.  Hitherto  ho 
had  looked  at  it  from  a position  of  his  own, 
and  through  a medium  of  his  own  colour- 
ing, but  the  Holy  Spirit  has  removed  him 
from  that  false  position  into  the  true  one, 
and  has  brought  him  out  from  the  false 
colouring  with  which  he  was  surrounded 
into  that  transparent  atmosphere  in  which 
all  things  are  seen  as  they  are. 

1 Col.  i.  20—22. 


SAINT  CONCERNING  IT. 


93 


The  estimate  which  in  other  days  he 
had  formed  of  the  blood  is  now  seen  not 
only  as  inadequate,  but  false.  It  was  that 
false  estimate  that  so  long  stood  between 
him  and  peace,  and  it  is  the  remains  of 
that  false  estimate  still  cleaving  to  him 
that  at  times  rise  up  to  darken  or  trouble 
his  spirit.  But  that  estimate  is  no  longer 
his.  He  has  been  taught  another  by  the 
Spirit  of  truth.  This  new  estimate  is  that 
of  God.  It  is  founded  upon  the  price 
which  the  Father  puts  upon  the  blood  of 
the  beloved  Son. 

In  believing,  the  sinner  relinquishes  his 
own  estimate  and  adopts  that  of  God.  In 
so  doing  he  finds  peace. 

The  blood  is  his  peace.  How  ! 

1.  Because  he  sees  it  to  he  divine. — It  is 
the  blood  of  God.1  Creature-blood  could 
avail  nothing.  It  could  not  reach  high 
1 Acts  xx.  28. 


94 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


enough;  it  could  not  go  low  enough  for 
his  want  and  guilt.  The  blood  is  the  life;1 
and  no  life  save  that  which  is  divine, — no 
life  save  that  of  the  Prince  of  life  could 
answer  for  his.  There  must  be  some  sort 
of  equivalent;  and  that  equivalent  God 
alone  could  furnish.  And  He  has  furnish- 
ed it  by  sending  his  own  Son,  and  so  sub- 
stituting a divine  life  instead  of  a human 
lifey  a divine  death  as  the  payment  in  full 
of  that  eternal  death  which  was  the  sin- 
ning creature’s  portion.  The  sight  of  this 
divine  blood-shedding, — this  infinite  pay- 
ment,— is  peace  to  his  soul. 

2.  Because  he  sees  it  to  be  so  precious . — 
It  is  not  only  divinely  perfect  but  divinely 
precious.  No  limit  can  be  set  upon  its  va- 

4 “ The  life  of  the  flesh  is  in  the  blood ; and  I 
have  given  it  to  you  upon  the  altar  to  make  an 
atonement  for  your  souls;  for  it  is  the  blood  that 
maketh  an  atonement  for  the  soul." — Lev . xvii. 
XI. 


SAINT  CONCERNING  IT« 


95 


lue.  The  question  which  a troubled  spirit 
puts  is,  Is  this  blood , this  life , valuable 
enough  to  stand  instead  of  mine  ? If  it  be 
so,  and  if  God  be  willing  to  accept  the  sub- 
stitution, I am  satisfied.  The  answer  is. 
That  blood  is  valuable  enough  to  answer 
for  yours,  and  God  is  willing  to  accept  the 
exchange.  Nay,  it  was  he  who  first  propos- 
ed it;  it  is  he  who  is  pressing  this  ex- 
change upon  your  notice  and  intreating 
you  to  receive  it,  that  so  there  may  be  no- 
thing left  for  you  to  pay.  In  believing, 
we  consent  to  take  God’s  payment,  which 
we  learn  to  be  so  infinite  in  value;  and  in 
taking  it  we  are  set  free  from  the  dur- 
ance which  was  our  portion  till  that  pay- 
ment should  be  wholly  made.  And  this 
is  peace ! 

3.  Because  he  sees  it  to  be  so  suitable. — 
It  provides  for  the  very  things  he  needs. 
It  meets  every  part  of  his  varied  case, 


96 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


leaving  nothing  unprovided  for  which 
could  burden  or  alarm  or  disquiet  him. 
Every  question  that  a guilty  conscience 
can  put,  it  fully  answers.  It  is  not  a 
mere  general  remedy  which  we  must  con- 
trive to  make  to  suit  our  case  as  well  as 
we  can.  It  is  a special  remedy  which 
adapts  itself  to  every  individual  case  just 
as  if  provided  for  it  alone.  No  fear  can 
arise  for  which  it  does  not  furnish  an  an- 
tidote. No  doubt  can  agitate  the  soul 
which  it  is  not  fitted  to  soothe  and  lay  to 
rest.  No  question  can  he  asked,  to  which 
it  does  not  most  promptly  reply.  And 
this  is  peace ! 

4.  Because  he  sees  it  to  be  so  spotless . — 
It  is  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  without  blem- 
ish and  without  spot.  This  attracts  his 
eye.  There  are  many  things  attractive 
about  the  blood,  but  this  is  one  of  the  most 
attractive.  There  is  not  one  stain  upon 


SAINT  CONCERNING  IT. 


97 


it.  It  is  infinitely  pure.  Had  there  been 
one  stain  upon  it,  his  peace  would  have 
been  imperfect.  But  its  purity  is  so  mani- 
fest and  so  divine,  that  he  feels  the  absolute 
security  of  the  foundation  on  which  his 
peace  is  built.  It  is  the  blood  of  a sacri- 
fice in  which  even  the  eye  of  Jehovah 
could  detect  no  flaw. 

5.  Because  he  sees  it  to  be  so  unchange - 
able . — It  loses  none  of  its  efficacy  by  time 
or  repetition.  It  is  the  same  in  this  age  as 
when  it  was  shed  at  first.  It  is  the  same 
to-day  as  when  first  we  applied  to  it  for 
healing  and  for  cleansing.  Nothing  can 
rob  it  of  its  potency.  It  has  cleansed  mil- 
lions; it  can  cleanse  millions  more;  it  has 
washed  out  stains,  in  number  past  calcu- 
lation, in  dye  most  thorough^  crimson. 
Yet  it  is  unpolluted.  It  has  taken  on  no 
stain.  It  is  still  as  able  to  pacify  the  consci- 
ence and  to  release  the  soul  from  guilt.  All 

H 


93 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


along  it  has  spoken  “better  things  than  that 
of  Abel;”  and  to  this  day  it  still  speaks  the 
same.  As  the  atmosphere  that  girds  our 
earth  remains  untainted  in  spite  of  the  mil- 
lions that  breathe  it, — as  fit  to  nourish  life, 
and  to  transmit  the  sun-beam  as  at  first,— 
so  this  blood  of  God’s  own  Son  abides 
unstained  by  the  myriads  of  sins  that  it 
has  purged  away, — as  fit  as  ever  to  cleanse, 
to  heal,  to  gladden,  and  to  transmit  the 
sunshine  of  Jehovah’s  reconciliation  into 
any  eye  that  will  but  open  to  let  it  enter. 

Of  all  this  he  sees  that  there  is  abun- 
dant evidence , evidence  which  completely 
satisfies  him,  and  makes  him  feel  that  in 
trusting  in  that  blood,  he  is  trusting  to 
one  of  the  surest  things  in  the  universe- 
He  hears  the  voice  of  God,  from  the  be- 
ginning proclaiming  its  power  and  its  pu- 
rity. He  sees  the  finger  of  God  pointing 
forward  to  the  one  sacrifice  in  which  no 


SAINT  CONCERNING  IT. 


99 


flaw  could  be  found.  He  listens  to  the 
testimony  of  “ the  law  and  the  prophets” 
on  this  point,  and  finds  how  entire  in  their 
concurrence.  He  sees  Satan  doing  his  ut- 
most to  discover  some  imperfection  in  his 
victim,  but  finding  “nothing  in  him.”1 
He  hears  the  voice  even  of  him  that  be- 
trayed him  saying  “it  is  innocent  blood;”? 
and  that  of  the  Roman  centurion  saying 
“ Certainly  this  was  a righteous  man.”3 
He  sees  too  in  the  resurrection  of  the  cru- 
cified One,  one  of  the  most  decisive  of  all 
the  testimonies.  It  was  “through  the  blood 
of  the  everlasting  covenant”  “ that  he  was 
brought  again  from  the  dead  by  the  Fa- 
ther.4 The  sin  that  was  laid  upon  him 
had  slain  him  and  borne  him  down  to  the 
grave ; but  in  so  doing,  it  had  shed  that 
blood  that  taketh  sin  away ; so  that  it  was 

1 John  xiv.  30.  2 Matt,  xxvii.  4. 

8 Luke  xxiii.  47.  4 Heb.  xiii.  20. 


100  THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 

not  possible  he  could  be  holden  in  the 
chains  of  death.  The  blood  had  satisfied, 
and  having  been  accepted  as  payment  in 
full,  he  was  raised  forthwith  out  of  that 
very  tomb  into  which  he  had  gone  down 
under  the  weight  of  our  guilt.  The  blood 
was  thus  proved  to  be  sufficient  to  atone 
for  that  guilt  which  was  laid  upon  him; — 
and  in  this  blessed  proof  the  believing  soul 
rests.  He  hears  too  the  songs  which  are 
sung  in  heaven  respecting  this  blood ; and 
sees  the  delight  there  felt  in  Jesus  “ as  the 
Lamb  that  was  slain.”1  And  that  in 
which  the  saints  above  rejoice,  is  surely 
what  he  may  safely  rejoice  in  here.  They 
cannot  be  mistaken  in  their  estimate  of 
the  blood.  They  cannot  err  in  their  praises 
of  the  blood.  They  must  know  what  they 
are  doing,  when  delighting  in  the  Lamb 
that  was  slain. 

1 Rev.  v.  9, 12. 


SAINT  CONCERNING  IT. 


101 


What  more  then  can  he  need  as  evidence 
of  the  preciousness,  the  efficacy,  the  spot- 
lessness, the  sufficiency  of  this  blood,  to 
which  he  has  come  and  on  which  he  is 
resting?  It  has  been  proved  in  every  way 
and  found  sufficient.  It  was  enough  for 
the  saints  in  other  days,  it  is  enough  for 
them  now.  It  is  enough  for  the  saints 
above,  it  may  well  be  enough  for  the 
saints  below. 

But  what  are  the  effects  which  the  saint 
experiences,  as  resulting  from  this  blood? 
They  are  such  as  the  following. 

1.  Through  it  he  has  the  remission  of  sin . 
— He  remembers  how  it  is  written,  “ in  him 
we  have  redemption  through  his  blood, 
the  forgiveness  of  sins , according  to  the 
riches  of  his  grace.”1  He  remembers  also 
how  Jesus  himself  said  “ this  is  my  blood 
of  the  new  covenant  shed  for  many,  for  the 
1 Eph.  i.  7. 


102 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


remission  of  sins.”1  Keeping  his  eye  fixed 
upon  the  blood,  he  realizes  every  moment 
the  forgiveness  which  it  proclaims,  and  the 
blessedness  of  which  that  forgiveness  is  the 
source.  And  if  at  any  time  a doubt  dis- 
quiet him,  he  looks  anew  to  the  blood  and 
is  reassured.2 

xMatt.  xxvi.  28. 

2 It  was  thus  that  a minister  of  the  last  century 
wrote  to  a friend  on  a death-bed,  “ Your  being 
kept  in  the  faith  of  the  righteousness  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  preserved  from 
falling  in  the  last  trial,  must  be  entirely  owing 
to  grace  helping  in  that  very  time  of  need,  even 
the  free  grace  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  sufficient 
for  you,  and  showing  itself  perfect  in  your  weak- 
ness. This  needs  no  merit  nor  effort  of  yours, 
to  make  it  effectual ; you  are  not  weak  enough  to 
be  helped  by  it,  if  you  think  to  assist  it  in  the 
least,  either  by  the  least  doing,  or  remotest  will- 
ing to  do,  yet  it  must  both  show  your  utter  weak- 
ness and  infirmities,  and  show  itself  sufficient  to 
make  you  strong  in  weakness.  The  boundless 
merit  of  the  blood  of  God  needs  not  the  least 
grain  of  weight  from  you  added  to  it,  to  make  it 


SAINT  CONCERNING  IT, 


103 


2.  Through  it  he  is  brought  nigh  and 
kept  nigh  to  God . — For  thus  it  is  written, 
“now  in  Christ  Jesus  ye  who  sometimes 
were  afar  off,  are  made  nigh  by  the  blood 
of  Christ.”1  In  coming  nigh  at  first,  he 
came  with  that  blood  as  his  only  introduc- 
tion : and,  in  continuing  nigh,  he  feels  the 

outweigh  the  demerit  of  all  your  heinous  sins, 
with  all  their  aggravations,  or  to  make  it  sufficient 
to  keep  you  from  being  found  wanting  when 
weighed  in  God's  balance.  It  scorns  the  least 
offer  of  assistance  from  the  sinner  to  make  him 
perfectly  just  in  the  sight  of  God.  And  if  you 
believe  it  to  be  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  that 
is  exhibited  to  you  in  the  divine  testimony,  you 
cannot  suspect  that  you  lack  anything  to  make 
you  inherit  eternal  life.  If  you  have  but  dark 
views  of  the  reconciled  face  of  God,  this  must  be 
because  you  see  as  through  a glass  darkly  the  me- 
rit of  the  reconciling  blood,  but  when  you  once 
have  ceased  to  walk  by  faith,  being  present  with 
the  Lord,  and  seeing  him  as  he  is,  alive  from  the 
dead  by  his  own  blood,  the  brightest  light  of  the  Fa- 
ther's face  that  shines  on  him  will  fill  your  soul." 

1 Eph.  ii.  13. 


104 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


necessity  of  always  realizing  the  efficacy 
of  the  blood.  It  was  this  that  enabled 
him  to  draw  near  “ with  a true  heart  and  in 
the  full  assurance  of  faith,”  and  it  is  this 
that  keeps  him  in  the  same  posture  still. 
It  is  this  that  makes  him  feel  safe  in  the 
presence  of  the  Holy  One,  safe  in  dealing 
with  him  about  his  sins,  safe  in  dwelling 
always  in  the  secret  place  of  the  most  High. 

3.  Through  it  he  is  put  in  possession 
of  eternal  life. — The  blood  is  his  security, 
as  well  as  the  ground  of  his  claim.  “ The 
blood  is  the  life,”  and  the  life  of  another 
having  been  taken  instead  of  his,  death  is 
no  longer  his  portion,  but  life — “ whoso 
eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood 
hath  eternal  life.”1  In  recognising  the 
efficacy  of  the  blood,  and  in  consenting  to 
take  his  stand  before  God  upon  it  alone, 
he  drinks  it,  and  in  drinking  it  he  receives 
1 John  vi.  54 


SAINT  CONCERNING  IT. 


105 


the  earnest  of  the  everlasting  life  of  which 
in  believing  he  has  become  the  heir. 

4.  'Through  it  his  conscience  is  purged.— • 
“If  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats  and 
the  ashes  of  an  heifer  sprinkling  the  un- 
clean, sanctifieth  to  the  purifying  of  the 
flesh,  how  much  more  shall  the  blood  of 
Christ,  who  through  the  eternal  Spirit 
offered  himself  without  spot  to  God, 
purge  your  conscience  from  dead  works 
to  serve  the  living  God.”1  Though  a sin- 
ner, he  is  entitled  to  plead  not  guilty  by 
reason  of  his  connection  with  this  blood. 
To  do  any  thing  else  would  be  to  deny  the 
full  efficacy  of  the  blood.  Though  in  him- 
self guilty,  his  conscience  is  as  completely 
set  at  rest  from  the  accusing  terrors  of  re- 
morse, as  if  he  had  never  transgressed  the 
law.  He  finds  that  “the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  clennseth  him  from  all  sin;”  not 
1 Heb.  ix.  13,  14;  lJohni.  7. 


106 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


“ hath  cleansed”  but  “ cleanseth,” — is  al- 
ways doing  it,  hour  after  hour.  The 
stream  is  ever  flowing  over  him  and  ever 
carrying  off  the  iniquity,  that  is  oozing 
out  at  every  pore. 

5,  Through  it  he  is  set  apart  for  God . — 
By  it  he  has  been  bought,  and  by  it  he 
has  been  separated  from  a present  evil 
world.  Hence  he  can  join  in  that  song, 
“unto  him  thatloved  us  and  washed  us  from 
our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath  made 
us  unto  our  God  kings  and  priests.”2  By 
this  blood  he  has  been  ransomed,  and  this 
of  itself  sets  him  apart.  But  the  mark  of 
the  blood  is  upon  him.  He  has  become  a 
consecrated  vessel, — a vessel  of  the  sanc- 
tuary,— no  longer  for  the  use  of  self  or  of 
the  world,  but  for  the  use  of  God  alone. 
As  one  on  whom  the  blood  has  been 
sprinkled,  he  feels  that  he  dare  not  be,  an- 
1 Rev.  i.  5. 


SAINT  CONCERNING  IT. 


107 


other’s;  he  must  be  Christ’s  alone.  He 
dare  not  turn  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah 
into  the  temple  of  idols,  the  dwelling  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  into  the  abode  of  devils. 

6.  Through  it  all  holiness  comes . — The 
blood  has  opened  the  channel,  and  holiness 
flows  in.  He  dares  not  use  this  blood  for 
unholy  purposes.  He  dares  not  say,  “ I 
am  sprinkled  with  the  blood,  therefore  I 
may  make  light  of  sin,  I may  live  as  I 
please.”  No:  he  says  I am  sprinkled 
with  this  blood,  therefore  I must  be  holy. 
They  who  know  it  not  may  live  on  in  sin; 
but  I who  know  it,  dare  not.  Others  who 
reject  it  may  reason  in  such  a way;  but  I 
cannot.  The  blood  is  too  precious,  too 
holy,  to  be  used  for  any  but  holy  purposes. 
If  he  were  attempting  to  use  it  for  any 
other,  it  would  immediately  change  its 
voice  and  bear  witness  against  him. 

7.  Through  it  he  overcomes . — “They 


108 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


overcame  him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.”1 
It  is  the  sight  of  this  blood  that  nerves  him 
for  the  conflict,  and  gives  him  the  assurance 
of  victory.  He,  whose  blood  it  is,  was  the 
conqueror,  and  in  his  name  we  move  for- 
ward to  battle,  certain  of  being  more  than 
conquerors  through  him  that  loved  us. 
The  blood  with  which  we  are  sprinkled 
gives  us  both  strength  and  courage.  With 
it  we  are  invincible, — nay  victorious. 

8.  Through  it  his  garments  are  puri- 
fied.— Of  the  blessed  above  it  is  written, 
“ they  have  washed  their  robes  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.”2 
It  is  this  that  so  thoroughly  purifies  our 
raiment,  making  it  for  beauty  and  for 
glory  to  resemble  that  of  our  great  High 
Priest  himself.  Not  one  stain  of  earth  is 
permitted  to  defile  us.  And  thus  clothed, 
we  are  not  only  made  fit  for  having  fellow- 
1 1 lev.  xii.  11.  2 Rev.  vii.  14, 


SAINT  CONCERNING  IT. 


109 


ship  with  God,  but  for  standing  “before  his 
throne,”  for  “ serving  him  day  and  night 
in  his  temple.”  The  brightness  of  angelic 
raiment  cannot  equal  ours,  for  it  is  divine. 
We  can  take  our  place  amid  angels,  yet 
never  blush.  We  can  compare  our  robes 
with  theirs,  yet  feel  no  shame.  So  perfect, 
so  resplendent  have  they  been  made  by 
this  blood  of  the  Lamb. 

9.  Through  it  all  blessing  flows . — The 
“ good  things  to  come,”  spoken  of  by  the 
apostle,1  are  all  connected  with  this  blood. 

■ It  is  the  blood  that  makes  it  befitting  in 
God  to  bestow  these  blessings,  and  which 
emboldens  the  sinner  to  draw  near  in 
order  to  receive  them.  All  that  is  excel- 
lent and  glorious  is  connected  with  this 
blood.  This  is  the  river  that  bears  to  him 
all  blessings  on  its  crimson  stream,  pour- 
ing in  without  ceasing  every  thing  that 
* Heb.  x.  1. 


110 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


God  has  to  confer.  “ Of  what  use  is  this 
fountain  to  believers  ? (asks  an  old  writer.) 
Many  and  great;  all  their  graces  flow  from 
it;  all  their  duties  are  to  be  washed  in  it; 
all  their  comforts  are  maintained  by  it.” 
Thus  it  is  that  the  saint  rejoices  in  this 
blood.  It  was  the  knowledge  of  it  that 
first  shed  peace  into  his  soul,  and  it  is  the 
same  knowledge  that  maintains  through- 
out life  that  peace  which  then  began.  It 
was  in  being  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the 
knowledge  of  this  blood  that  he  became  a 
saint,  and  it  is  in  continuing  to  know  it- 
that  he  continues  a saint.  His  only  an- 
swer to  the  whispers  of  conscience,  is  “ the 
blood  that  was  stied.”  * His  great  pro- 
tection against  the  fiery  darts  of  the 
wicked  one,  is  “the  blood  that  was  shed.” 
His  preparation  for  the  duties  of  each  day 
is  a fresh  application  to  the  blood,  in 
1 Romaine’s  Works,  p.  127. 


SAINT  CONCERNING  IT. 


Ill 


which  he  bathes  his  conscience  anew  each 
morning  as  he  rises.1 

It  speaks  to  him  better  things  than 
that  of  Abel, — far  better  things  indeed. 

1.  It  speaks  of  a brother's  love9  not  of  a 
brother's  hatred . — It  has  no  voice  for  him 
but  that  of  love; — love  strong  as  death,  nay 
stronger.  Its  language  is,  “ herein  is  love, 
not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  God  loved 

1 “ Let  this  be  our  daily  work  and  exercise,  for 
we  are  daily  contracting  new  filth.  Yesterday's 
cleansing  will  not  save  us  from  new  filth  to-day; 
nor  will  our  running  to  the  fountain  to-day,  serve 
to  take  away  new  spots  to-morrow;  new  spots 
call  for  new  washing,  so  that  this  must  be  our 
very  life  and  exercise,  to  be  daily  and  continually 
running  to  the  fountain  with  our  souls,  and  giving 
Christ,  the  great  purger , much  to  do. 

“ We  must  not  think  to  be  perfectly  washed,  so 
long  as  we  are  here ; for  we  will  be  contracting 
new  filth  daily,  our  feet  will  be  to  wash,  J ohn 
xiii.  10.  We  will  not  be  without  spot  or  wrinkle, 
till  we  come  home  to  that  place,  wherein  enter- 
eth  nothing  that  defileth.”—  Brown’s  Christ  the 
Way , tfic.,  p.  167. 


112 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


ns,  and  gave  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation 
for  our  sins.”  It  has  a voice  which  says, 
“ fear  not,  I am  the  first  and  the  last,  I 
am  He  that  liveth  and  was  dead,  and  am 
alive  for  evermore.” 

2.  It  speaks  of  peace  returned , not  of 
peace  fled  away . — Abel’s  blood  seemed  to 
say  that  peace  had  left  the  earth,  and  in 
its  place  all  discord  and  revenge  and  fierce 
variance  had  come.  But  this  better  blood 
tells  us  that  peace  has  again  found  an  a- 
bode  on  earth,  that  the  broken  links  be- 
tween man  and  man  are  to  be  re-knit,  and 
that  the  sunshine  of  genial  harmony  be- 
tween heaven  and  earth  is  displacing  the 
dark  discord  that  threatened  to  reign  for 
ever.  It  speaks  of  reconciliation  between 
God  and  the  sinner, — reconciliation  upon 
securest  grounds, — the  reconciliation  of  a 
covenant  ordered  in  all  things  and  sure. 

3.  It  speaks  of  grace,  not  of  ivrath. — In 


SAINT  CONCERNING  IT. 


113 


Abel’s  case  it  was  all  wrath;  the  blood 
cried  for  vengeance  out  of  the  ground;  this 
blood  breathes  no  vengeance,  no  wrath. 
All  in  it  is  grace, — grace  to  sinners,— grace 
to  the  murderers, — grace  to  the  uttermost. 
Free  love  to  the  unloveable  and  the  un- 
loving is  the  very  essence  of  the  message 
which  it  brings. 

4.  It  speaks  of  forgiveness , not  condem- 
nation. — It  calls  up  no  thunders.  It  wields 
no  lightnings  to  execute  the  sentence  of 
righteousness  against  the  ungodly.  “ For- 
give,” is  its  only  utterance.  “ Father,  for- 
give them,  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do.”  Its  burden  is,  “I  will  be  merciful, 
to  their  unrighteousness,  their  sins  and 
their  iniquities  will  I remember  no  more.”1 

5.  It  speaks  of  the  blessing , not  of  the 
curse. — “ Bless,  and  curse  not”  is  the  com- 
mission with  which  it  is  entrusted  in  its 

*Heb.  viii.  12. 


1 


114 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


embassy  to  man.  It  has  borne  the  curse ; it 
has  absorbed  it ; it  has  transmuted  it  into 
a blessing, — a blessing  which  it  is  pouring 
freely  out  on  all  who  will  but  receive  it. 
Its  message  is,  “ Come  now  and  let  us  rea- 
son together,  saith  the  Lord,  though  your 
sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  white  as 
snow;  though  they  be  red  like  crimson 
they  shall  be  as  wool.”1 

6.  It  speaks  of  life , not  of  death, — Cain  s 
blood-guiltiness  seemed  to  seal  up  man’s 
ruin,  and  shut  him  up  to  helpless  death. 
There  seemed  nothing  in  reserve  but  death. 
Even  a brother’s  heart  could  meditate 
death  against  a brother,  and  a brother’s 
hand  inflict  it.  But  in  this  better  blood 
all  is  life, — life  everlasting, — life  that  has 
come  to  us  through  death, -r-the  death  of 
the  substitute.  It  is  this  blood  which 
says,  “ I am  the  resurrection  and  the  life, 
1Isa.  i.  18. 


SAINT  CONCERNING  IT. 


115 


he  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were 
dead,  yet  shall  he  live,  and  whosoever  liveth 
and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die.”1 

7.  It  speaks  not  to  alarm  but  to  soothe  the 
conscience . — Abel’s  blood  must  have  been 
echoing  in  the  ears  of  Cain,  all  his  days. 
He  might  go  out  from  the  gate  of  Eden, 
the  presence  of  the  Lord,  but  he  could  not 
get  beyond  the  sound  of  that  voice.  It 
would  keep  his  conscience  ever  open,  ever 
bleeding,  ever  tortured.  But  this  better 
blood  speaks  peace.  It  purges  the  con- 
science and  lays  its  alarms  to  rest.  It 
heals,  it  restores,  it  gladdens.  To  be  sprink- 
led with  it  is  what  the  conscience  desires. 
To  hear  its  voice  is  what  the  conscience  feels 
to  be  necessary  for  comfort  and  rest.  Its  still 
small  voice  can  in  a moment  calm  the  tu- 
mults of  the  most  torn  and  troubled  breast. 

8.  It  speaks  not  of  man  the  fugitive  and 

1 John  xi.  25. 


116 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


vagabond , but  of  man  restored  to  Eden . — 
It  was  the  blood  of  his  brother  that  chas- 
ed Cain  from  the  gate  of  paradise.  It 
would  not  allow  him  to  dwell  even 
within  sight  of  it,  though  outside  the  sa- 
cred fence.  But  this  better  blood  brings 
back  the  sinner  to  the  gate  of  Paradise  a- 
gain, — nay  brings  him  in,  or  at  least  gives 
him  the  pledge  that  he  shall  one  day  re- 
enter these  blessed  gates,  and  dwell  within 
these  blessed  bowers.  It  transforms  him 
from  a fugitive  and  a vagabond,  such  as 
he  is  by  nature,  into  a fellow-citizen  with 
the  saints  and  an  heir  of  the  incorruptible 
inheritance,  the  new  heavens  and  the  new 
earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness.1 

IThe  following  quaint  old  stanza  may  help 
to  illustrate  some  of  the  preceding  remarks. 

**  Abel  was  silent;  but  his  blood  was  strong; 

Each  drop  of  guiltless  blood  commands  a tongue, 

A tongue  that  cries, — ’tis  not  a tongue  implores 
For  gentle  audience,  ’tis  a tongue  that  roars 
For  hideous  vengeance;  ’tis  a tongue  that’s  bold 


SINNER  CONCERNING  IT. 


117 


Realizing  these  things,  the  saint  moves 
on  his  joyful  course.  The  blood  is  all  to 
him.  It  is  his  peace ; it  is  his  medicine ; 
it  is  his  daily  comforter.  And  resting  in 
it  he  rejoices  in  hope  of  the  glory  to  be 
revealed.  Contrasting  the  blood  of  Abel 
with  that  of  Christ,  and  comparing  the 
blood  of  the  sacrifices  with  that  of  the 
Lamb  of  God,  he  daily  gets  new  insight 
into  its  wondrous  excellencies,  and  is  made 
to  feel  its  full  and  perfect  sufficiency.  He 
needs  no  more  to  keep  his  soul  in  perfect 
peace,  even  when  conscious  of  no  common 
unworthiness  and  pollution.  He  needs  no 
more  to  heal  all  his  wounds,  to  cleanse 
away  all  his  defilement,  to  strengthen 

And  full  of  courage,  and  that  cannot  hold. 

Oh!  what  a noise  my  blessed  Saviour’s  blood 
Makes  now  in  heaven!  how  strong  it  cries!  how  loudl 
But  not  for  vengeance.  From  his  side  has  sprung 
A world  of  drops ; from  every  drop  a tongue. 

O sinner,  hear  of  J esus’  blood  the  cry, 

God  wills  to  save  thee; — wherefore  wilt  thou  die!’* 
Francis  Quarles* 


118  THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  SAINT,  ETC 

him  for  every  toil,  and  to  enable  him  to 
conquer  in  every  battle  with  the  enemy. 

And  in  proportion  as  he  learns  to  enter 
more  fully  into  the  thoughts  of  God  con- 
cerning the  blood,  in  that  proportion  does 
his  peace  deepen  and  his  joy  overflow. 

All  its  suitableness  and  manifold  riches 
are  not  disclosed  in  a single  day.  He  is 
ever  making  new  discoveries  in  this  illimit- 
able field:  ever  digging  into  new  veins  in 
this  unfathomable  mine.  His  song  on  earth 
is  “ unto  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us 
from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  to  him  be 
glory  and  dominion  for  ever.”1  His  song 
in  heaven  will  be  the  same,  only  louder 
and  fuller,  “ thou  wast  slain  and  hast  re- 
deemed us  to  God  by  thy  blood  out  of  every 
kindred  and  nation  and  tongue  and  people, 
and  hast  made  us  unto  God  kings  and 
priests,  and  we  shall  reign  on  the  earth.”2 
1 Rev.  i.  5.  2 Rev.  v.  9. 


THOUGHTS  OF  THE  LOST  SOUL,  ETC.  119 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE  LOST  SOUL  CONCERN- 
ING IT. 

In  Judas  we  have  an  instance  of  a lost 
soul,— a soul  just  departing  to  the  everlast- 
ing prison-house.  Of  him  we  read,  “ then 
Judas,  who  had  betrayed  him,  when  he 
saw  that  he  was  condemned,  repented 
himself  and  brought  again  the  thirty  pieces 
of  silver  to  the  chief  priests  and  elders.” 
And  his  testimony  respecting  the  blood  is 
given  in  the  following  confession,  falling 
from  his  dying  lips,  “I  have  sinned  in 
that  I have  betrayed  the  innocent  blood.”1 
1 Matt,  xxvii.  3,  4. 


120 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


But  a few  hours  before,  he  had  betrayed 
it,  he  had  sold  it  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver. 
But  now  remorse  has  fastened  itself  upon 
him ; his  conscience,  which  had  slept,  is 
now  awaking;  his  guilt,  like  a poisoned 
garment,  covers  him  round,  and  darts  in  its 
tortures  at  every  pore. 

One  object  occupies  his  whole  vision,  so 
that  he  can  see  no  other;  it  is  the  blood 
he  had  betrayed.  High  above  all  the  sins 
of  a sin tul  life,  this  towers,  in  awful  pre- 
eminence. It  is  his  sin  of  sins;  the  sin 
which  sets  aside  every  other,  as  if  in  com- 
parison with  this  they  did  not  deserve  the 
name.  One  scene  haunts  him,  like  a 
spectre  from  beneath,  hanging  upon  his 
steps  and  whispering  terror  into  his  soul, 
— the  bargain  for  the  blood, — the  innocent 
blood!  He  cannot  shake  it  off.  It  clings 
closer  and  gathers  darker  around  him. 

He  is  just  about  to  go  “to  his  own 


LOST  SOUL  CONCERNING  IT.  121 


place;”  and  he  leaves  behind  him  his 
testimony  to  the  inrfbcence  of  the  blood. 
He  tells  us  with  dying  lips  that  it  is  in- 
nocent blood.  As  he  is  about  to  plunge 
into  hell,  he  turns  round  to  his  com- 
panions in  guilt,  and  says,  “ it  is  innocent 
blood.” 

It  is  its  innocence  that  makes  it  so  aw- 
ful, even  to  think  upon.  It  is  its  in- 
nocence that  strikes  into  his  vitals  as  witli 
a scorpion’s  sting.  Had  there  been  one 
stain  upon  it,  his  agony  might  not  have 
been  so  hopeless,  so  horrible.  There  might 
have  been  some  relief,  some  hope,  some 
ray  of  light.  But  it  is  innocent  blood 
Its  innocence!— oh,  it  is  this  that  torments 
him  before  the  time.  It  is  this  that  sends 
him  howling  along  like  some  raging  de- 
moniac, seeking  refuge  among  the  tombs, 
— seeking  refuge  in  hell,  as  if  hell  might 
be  some  relief,  because  removed  from  the 


122 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


place  where  the  innocent  blood  had  been 
sold,  and  was  crying  to  heaven  against  its 
seller.  Oh  ! he  would  do  any  thing  now 
rather  than  look  upon  that  innocent  blood. 
He  would  flee  to  any  place  of  darkness, 
where  it  might  be  hidden  from  his  eyes! 

Then,  as  if  to  double  all  his  agony,  when 
lie  casts  down  the  price  of  blood  at  the  feet 
of  the  murderers,  all  the  reply  he  meets 
with  is  the  cutting  bitterness  of  cold  re- 
morseless malignity,  “ what  is  that  to  us, 
see  thou  to  that.”  Ah ! poor  wretched 
soul,  thou  art  lost  indeed : and  this  is  all 
the  sympathy  with  which  thy  companions 
greet  thee ; — a foretaste  of  the  sympathy 
with  which  devils  below  shall  salute  thee 
when  thou  goest  down  to  their  abode  of 
woe! 

We  see  then,  that  it  is  specially  the  m- 
nocence  of  the  blood  that  shall  be  of  all 
others,  the  cutting,  stinging  thought  of  a 


LOST  SOUL  CONCERNING  IT.  123 


lost  soul.  The  blood  he  has  slighted  and 
trampled  on  was  not  only  so  precious,  but 
so  innocent ! It  is  this  that  shall  make  hell 
so  intolerable.  The  blood  he  has  betrayed 
was  without  blemish  and  without  spot ; 
yet  he  has  treated  it  as  if  it  were  polluted 
and  vile ! He  has  treated  it  as  if  it  were  the 
felon’s  blood, — the  blood  of  one  whose 
crimes  demanded  its  shedding.  Its  in- 
nocence stares  him  in  the  face.  Its  in- 
nocence is  gall  and  wormwood  in  his  cup, 
the  sting  of  the  worm  that  never  dies.  Oh  ! 
could  he  but  discover  one  stain  on  it,  it 
would  help  to  cool  his  burning  tongue; 
it  would  help  to  unloose  his  adamantine 
chain,  to  quench  the  lire  that  is  consum- 
ing his  bones.  But  all  in  vain.  It  is 
innocent  blood ; and  shall  be  so  for  ever. 
Its  innocence  shall  be  the  consummation 
of  his  agony.  It  might  have  exalted  him 


124 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


to  heaven ; hut  now  it  is  sinking  him  eter- 
nally to  the  lowest  hell. 

Heedless  sinner!  such  may  shortly  be 
thy  doom!  Thou  despisest  the  blood,  or 
at  least  thou  slightest  it.  Perhaps  thou 
art  one  of  those  who  betray  it,  time  after 
time,  at  a communion  table.  How  awful 
thy  condition ! The  wrath  of  God  abideth 
on  thee  even  now;  and  thou  shalt  shortly 
be  in  hell,  if  grace  prevent  not.  There 
thou  shalt  be  with  Judas,  hearing  his  bit- 
ter cries,  and  joining  thine  to  his.  Thou 
hast  followed  his  footsteps  here  as  a be- 
trayer and  despiser  of  the  blood,  and  ere 
long  thou  must  reap  the  recompense  which 
he  is  reaping. 

Thou  shalt  meet  him  and  his  fellows; 
and  oh,  what  a meeting!  “ Hell  from  be- 
neath is  moved  for  thee  to  meet  thee  at 
thy  coming.”  They  will  recognize  and 


LOST  SOUL  CONCERNING  IT.  125 


salute  thee.  Ha!  art  thou  too  become 
like  unto  us;  thou  are  brought  down  to 
the  grave;  thou  art  fallen  from  heaven; 
thou  art  cast  out  as  an  abominable  branch, 
going  down  to  the  stones  of  the  pit  as  a 
carcase  trodden  under  foot.  Art  thou  too 
become  like  one  of  us; — thou  that  hast 
named  the  name  of  the  Redeemer,  thou 
that  hast  heard  the  good  news  of  his  life- 
bringing death ; thou  that  hast  kept  com- 
pany with  his  disciples  as  if  thou  wert  al- 
together one  of  them?”  And  as  thou  criest 
out  in  thine  agony,  cursing  them  as  thy 
tempters,  thou  receivest  no  reply  but  the 
sneer  of  heartless  mockery,  “ what  is  that 
to  us,  see  thou  to  that.” 

Thus  shalt  thou  be  eternally  shut  in. 
Whether  thou  wilt  or  not,  thou  must  have 
thy  companionship  with  Judas,  with  the 
lost,  with  the  devil  and  his  angels.  Thou 
Isaiah  xiv.  9. 


126 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 


cansfc  not  escape.  Thou  canst  not  rise. 
The  innocent  blood  presses  thee  down,— a 
heavier  mill-stone  than  that  which  shall 
sink  Babylon  in  the  mighty  waters.  And  as 
thou  plungest  downward  in  that  wild  abyss 
of  smoke  and  fire  and  vapour,  ascending 
up  for  ever  and  ever,  this  shall  be  the  cry 
of  thy  tormented  spirit,  “ I have  sinned 
in  that  I have  betrayed  the  innocent 
blood.” 

Must  it  he  so?  Art  thou  resolved  to 
perish,  and  to  crush  thy  immortal  spirit 
beneath  the  weight  of  this  innocent  blood? 
Must  mercy  be  slighted,  life  rejected,  and 
forgiveness  flung  away  as  dross?  Must 
Satan  be  served,  the  world  worshipped, 
self  indulged,  and  God  set  clean  aside  as 
a Being  better  far  forgotten  and  disown- 
ed? Must  hell  be  chosen,  when  the  gate 
of  the  Kingdom  stands  wide  before  thee, 
and  the  kindliest  welcome  proffered  that 


LOST  :-OUL  CONCERNING  IT.  127 

ever  friend  gave  to  friend,  or  parent  to 
child? 

Must  it  be  so?  Is  thy  mind  made  up  to 
brave  the  worst?  Is  thy  life  here  to  be  one 
of  reckless  unbelief  and  folly?  Wilt  thou 
have  no  compassion  upon  thyself,  but  go 
on  courting  the  evil,  as  if  it  were  the 
better  lot? 

Heedless  soul ! Stand  still  for  one  mo- 
ment in  thy  foolishness.  Listen  ! A voice 
comes  wildly  up  as  from  the  regions  be- 
neath. It  is  the  voice  of  wailing,  and  its 
burden  is,  “ I have  sinned  in  that  I have 
betrayed  the  innocent  blood.”  It  is  the 
voice  of  Judas!  His  wailing  is  not  done. 
It  was  the  first  awful  note  of  it  which 
earth  heard  ere  he  plunged  beneath.  But 
the  prolongation  was  reserved  for  other 
ears  than  man’s,  other  realms  than  these 
of  this  still  sweet  and  sunny  earth.  It  is 
the  faint  far-off  echo  of  that  cry,  that  is 


128  THE  THOUGHTS  OF  THE 

now  ascending.  Man!  dost  thou  not  hear 
it?  But  a little  while,  and  thou  shalt  join 
it,  to  swell  its  tone  of  infinite  and  eternal 
sadness,  if  thou  madly  mockest  all  warn- 
ing, and  persistest  in  thy  unbelief. 

Do  not  so.  Thou  hast  gone  near  en- 
ough to  the  gates  of  hell;  yet  go  not  in. 
Turn  back.  It  is  not  yet  too  late.  Even 
thou  mayest  be  saved.  The  gate  of  light 
stands  as  widely  open  as  the  gate  of  dark- 
ness. The  way  of  life,  the  narrow  way, 
is  as  free  to  thee  as  is  the  way  of  death. 

There  is  still  forgiveness.  And  the  glad 
tidings  of  it  are  as  glad  as  ever.  No  sin 
of  thine  has  altered  that  gladness  or  made 
the  tidings  a forbidden  joy  to  thee.  We 
can  tell  you  as  truly  as  ever  that  “ these 
things  are  written  that  thou  mightest  be- 
lieve that  Jesus  is]  the  Christ,  and  that 
believing  thou  mightest  have  life  through 
his  name.”1 


1 John  xx.  81. 


LOST  SOUL  CONCERNING  IT. 


129 


“ The  blood  of  Christ  cleanseth  from  all 
sin.”  Remember,  it  is  all  sin,— even 
yours.  It  can  wash,  it  can  pardon,  it  can 
justify  even  thee.  Take  it  now,  for  clean- 
sing and  salvation.  It  will  purge  thy  con- 
science ; it  will  reconcile  thee  to  God ; it 
will  fill  thy  soul  with  peace.  And  are 
these  blessings  so  common  and  so  cheap, 
that  thou  canst  afford  to  slight  or  to  post- 
pone them? 

The  great  day  of  reckoning  for  the  blood 
draws  nigh.  He  whose  blood  was  shed  is 
coming  to  take  vengeance  on  its  shedders. 
It  will  be  a sore  reckoning  for  millions. 
And  who  shall  then  attempt  to  scorn  the 
accusation  as  if  it  were  either  idle  or  un- 
true? “Blood-guiltiness”  shall  then  be 
brought  in  as  the  verdict  against  this 
world, — and  in  that  awful  verdict  your 
name  shall  be  found. 


K 


130 


THE  GOOD  NEWS 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  GOOD  NEWS  CONCERNING  THIS  BLOOD. 

It  is  blood  whose  shedding  has  provid- 
ed a propitiation  for  sin,  and  whosoever 
will  consent  to  take  this  as  his  propitia- 
tion becomes  partaker  of  the  blessings 
which  it  contains.  It  was  the  High  Priest’s 
laying  of  his  hand  upon  the  goat1  that 
established  the  connection  between  it  and 
the  people,  so  that  Israel’s  sins  passed  over 
to  the  substitute ; and  so  it  is  our  believing 
that  connects  us  with  the  Divine  Substi- 
tute, and  brings  to  us  all  the  benefits  of  the 
divine  blood-shedding. 

1 Lev.  xvi.  21. 


CONCERNING  THIS  BLOOD, 


131 


It  is  our  unbelief  that  intercepts  the 
communication;  it  is  faith  that  establishes 
it.  Faith  may  seem  a slight  thing  to  some; 
and  they  may  wonder  how  salvation  can 
flow  from  believing.  Hence  they  try  to 
magnify  it,  to  adorn  it,  to  add  to  it,  in  or- 
der that  it  may  appear  some  great  thing, 
something  worthy  of  having  salvation  as 
its  reward.  In  so  doing  they  are  actually 
transforming  faith  into  a work,  and  intro- 
ducing salvation  by  works  under  the  name 
of  faith.  They  show  that  they  understand 
neither  the  nature  nor  the  office  of  faith. 
It  saves,  simply  by  handing  us  over  to  the 
Saviour.  It  saves,  not  on  account  of  the 
good  works  which  flow  from  it;  not  on  ac- 
count of  the  love  which  it  kindles-;  not  on 
account  of  the  repentance  which  it  pro- 
duces; but  solely  because  it  connects  us 
with  the  Saving  One.  Its  saving  efficacy 
nodes  ot  lie  in  its  connection  with  right- 


132 


THE  GOOD  NEWS 


eousness  and  holiness,  but  entirely  in  its 
connection  with  the  Righteous  and  Holy 
One.1 

Thus  it  is  that  unbelief  ruins,  because 
it  cuts  off  all  communication  with  the 
source  of  life;  and  thus  faith  blesses  be- 
cause it  establishes  that  communication. 

See  these  electric  wires  that  are  shooting 
their  mysterious  threads  throughout  our 
land,  communicating  between  city  and 
city,  between  man  and  man,  however  dis- 
tant; dead,  yet  instinct  with  life;  silent,  yet 
vocal  with  hidden  sound;  carrying,  as  with 
a lightning  burst,  the  tidings  of  good  or 
evil  from  shore  to  shore.  Separate  their 

l “ When  thou  art  told  that  we  are  justified 
by  faith,  think  not  that  this  takes  place  because 
faith  is  a virtue  in  us  by  which  we  secure  the  ap- 
probation of  God,  or  because  faith  is  the  parent- 
stock  of  other  virtues;  but  be  assured  of  this, 
whenever  tftou  hearest  the  word  faith,  that  what 
is  offered  if  something  out  of  ourselves.” 

Melancthon. 


CONCERNING  THIS  BLOOD.  133 


terminating  points  by  one  hair’s-breadth 
from  the  index,  or  interpose  some  non- 
conducting substance; — in  a moment  in- 
tercourse is  broken.  No  tidings  come  and 
go.  The  stoppage  is  as  entire  as  if  you 
had  cut  every  wire  in  pieces,  and  cast  these 
pieces  to  the  winds.  But  re-fasten  the  se- 
vered points,  or  link  them  to  the  index  with 
some  conducting  material,  and  instantan- 
eously the  intercourse  is  renewed.  Joy 
and  sorrow  flow  again  along  the  line. 
Men’s  thoughts,  men’s  feelings,  men’s 
deeds,  rumours  of  war  or  assurances  of 
peace,  news  of  victory  or  defeat,  the  sound 
of  falling  thrones,  the  shouts  of  frantic 
nations,— all  hurrying  on  after  each  other 
to  convey  to  ten  thousand  throbbing  hearts 
the  evil  or  the  good  which  they  contain ! 

That  non-conductor  is  unbelief.  It  in- 
terposes between  the  soul  and  all  heaven- 
ly blessing,  all  divine  intercourse.  It  may 


134 


THE  GOOD  NEWS 


seem  a thing  too  slight  to  effect  so  great  a 
result;  yet  it  does  so  inevitably.  It  shuts 
off  the  communication  with  the  source  of 
all  glad  tidings.  It  isolates  the  man,  and 
forbids  the  approach  of  blessing. 

That  conductor  is  faith . In  itself  it  is 
nothing,  but  in  its  connection  everything. 
It  restores  in  a moment  the  broken  com- 
munication; and  this,  not  from  any  virtue 
in  itself,  but  simply  as  the  conducting  link 
between  the  soul  and  the  fountain  of  all 
blessing  above. 

The  blood  of  the  cross  is  that  which  has 
“made  peace;”1  and  to  share  this  peace 
God  freely  calls  us.  This  blood  of  the 
cross  is  that  by  which  we  are  justified;2 
and  to  this  justification  we  are  invited. 
This  blood  of  the  cross  is  that  by  which 
we  are  brought  nigh  to  God;3  and  to  this 
blessed  nearness  we  are  invited.  This 
l Col.  i.  20.  a Rom.  v.  9.  8 Epfi.  ii.  13. 


CONCERNING  THIS  BLOOD.  135 


blood  of  the  cross  is  that  by  which  we 
have  redemption,1  even  the  forgiveness  of 
sins  according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace; 
and  this  redemption,  this  forgiveness,  is 
freely  set  before  us.  It  is  by  this  blood 
that  we  have  liberty  of  entrance  into  the 
holiest;2  and  God’s  voice  to  each  sinner  is 
“ enter  in.”  It  is  by  this  blood  that  we 
are  cleansed  and  washed;3  and  this  foun- 
tain is  free,  free  as  any  of  earth’s  flowing 
streams,  free  as  the  mighty  ocean  itself,  in 
which  all  may  wash  and  be  clean. 

These  are  good  news  concerning  the 
blood, — news  which  should  make  every 
sinner  feel  that  it  is  just  what  he  stands  in 
need  of.  Nothing  less  than  this;  yet  noth- 
ing more. 

And  these  good  news  of  the  blood  are 
no  less  good  news  of  Him  whose  blood  is 

1 Eph.  i.  7;  Col.  i.  14.  2 Heb.  x.  19. 

8 1 John  i.  7;  Rev.  i.  5. 


136 


THE  GOOD  NEWS 


shed.  For  it  is  by  this  blood-shedding 
that  he  is  the  Saviour.  Without  this,  he 
could  not  have  been  a Redeemer;  but,  with 
it,  He  is  altogether  such  a Redeemer  as 
suits  the  sinner’s  case.  In  Him  there  is 
salvation, — salvation  without  a price, — 
salvation  for  the  most  totally  and  thor- 
oughly lost  that  this  fallen  earth  contains. 
Go  and  receive  it. 

Do  you  ask,  how  am  I to  find  salvation, 
and  how  am  I to  go  to  that  God,  on  the 
blood  of  whose  Son  I have  trampled  so 
long?  I answer,  Go  to  him  in  your  pro- 
per and  present  character, — that  of  sinner. 
Go  with  no  lie  upon  your  lips,  professing 
to  be  what  you  are  not,  or  to  feel  what 
you  do  not.  Tell  him  honestly  what  you 
are,  and  what  you  feel,  and  what  you  do 
not  feel.  “ Take  with  you  words;”  but 
let  them  be  honest  words,  not  the  words  of 
hypocrisy  and  deceit.  Tell  him  that  your 


CONCERNING  THIS  BLOOD.  137 


sin  is  piercing  you;  or  tell  him  that  you 
have  no  sense  of  sin,  no  repentance,  no 
relish  for  divine  things,  no  right  know- 
ledge of  your  own  worthlessness  and  guilt. 
Present  yourself  before  him  just  as  you 
are,  and  not  as  you  wish  to  he,  or  think 
you  ought  to  be,  or  suppose  he  desires 
you  to  be.  Recount  your  necessities; 
make  mention  of  the  multitude  of  his 
mercies;  point  to  the  work  of  the  blessed 
Son;  remind  him  how  entirely  righteous 
it  would  be  for  him  to  receive  and  bless 
you.  Appear  before  him,  taking  for  grant- 
ed just  that  you  are  what  you  are,  a sin- 
ner; and  that  Christ  is  what  he  is,  a Sa- 
viour; deal  honestly  with  God,  and  be  as- 
sured that  it  is  most  thoroughly  impossi- 
ble that  you  can  miss  your  errand.  “ Seek 
the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found;”  and 
you  will  see  that  he  is  found  of  you. 


138 


THE  GOOD  NEWS 


“ Call  upon  him  while  he  is  near;”  and 
you  will  find  how  near  he  is.1 

But  tarry  not,  for  the  day  is  fast  closing, 
and  the  thick  gloom  of  evening  is  at  hand. 
The  last  “woes”  are  preparing,  and  the 
gates  of  the  kingdom  shall  ere  long  ho 
shut.  The  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord  is 
running  out,  and  the  coming  of  the  Lord 
draweth  nigh.  Trifle  not  with  your  brief 
remaining  span  or  inch  of  hasty  time. 

This  earth  shall  soon  shake  beneath  the 
footsteps  of  its  coming  Judge.  Its  hills 
and  rocks  must  soon  echo  with  the  sound 
of  the  final  trumpet.  And  therefore  it 
concerns  men,  without  delay,  to  be  secur- 
ing the  shelter  ere  the  storm  be  up.  When 
once  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  is  kindled, 
who  shall  escape  save  those  who  are  sprink- 
led with  his  blood  ? It  is  an  eternal  doom 
1 See  Note  at  the  end. 


CONCERNING  THIS  BLOOD. 


139 


that  is  preparing  for  the  ungodly,  and  the 
time  that  remaineth  is  short,  in  which  the 
sinner  may  escape.  He  has  no  moments 
to  fling  away,  for  that  which  he  flings 
away  may  be  his  last. 

Fool!  when  wilt  thou  be  wise?  Thou 
art  wise  for  time,  and  not  for  eternity. 
Dost  thou  not  see  these  thunder-clouds? 
Dost  thou  not  hear  the  wild  tumult  of 
earth,  the  cry  of  nations,  the  shock  of 
falling  empires,  the  crumbling  sound 
throughout  the  earth  that  speaks  of  uni- 
versal dissolution  and  ruin!  What  are 
these  things?  The  work  of  chance?  A 
passing  earthquake  ? The  burst  of  frenzy 
for  an  hour!  No.  They  are  signs  of  ga- 
thering wrath.  It  is  God  coming  down  to 
smite  the  guilty  earth, — that  earth  upon 
whose  surface  your  feet  are  treading. 

Are  you  ready  for  his  arrival?  Are  all 
matters  of  variance  between  you  and  him 


140 


THE  GOOD  NEWS. 


adjusted?  And  has  your  reconciliation  been 
sealed  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb* 

If  not,  how  shall  you  meet  his  eye? 
How  shall  you  abide  his  awful  scrutiny! 
That  scrutiny  will  comprise  much.  Nay, 
it  will  omit  nothing;  its  minuteness  and 
exactness  will  overwhelm  you.  But  the 
most  solemn  part  of  it  will  be  that  touch- 
ing the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  the 
good  news  respecting  it  which  have  been 
so  long  proclaimed  to  you.  These  good 
news  have  found  no  entrance,  and  the  mes- 
senger who  brought  them  has  been  denied 
all  access  day  by  day.  Instead  of  prizing 
this  blood  and  making  use  of  it  for  your 
cleansing,  you  have  slighted  it;  and  in 
slighting  it,  you  nave  slighted  Him  whose 
blood  it  is, — Him  through  whose  death 
there  is  life  for  you.  And  shall  not  the 
Lord  visit  you  for  such  deliberate  re- 
jection of  his  grace;  shall  not  his  soul  be 


NOTE. 


141 


avenged  for  such  neglect  of  his  “ great 
salvation”? 


NOTE,  P.  138. 

" The  reason  why  we  so  often  find  the  awak- 
ened sinner  so  slow  in  apprehending  the  sim- 
ple gospel  of  the  grace  of  God,  is  that  he  can- 
not understand  its  freeness  or  fulness.  He  con- 
founds it  with  thoughts  about  righteousness , and, 
therefore,  is  set  upon  searching  for  a reason 
for  it.  He  wants  to  find  a something  in  himself 
which,  in  some  way,  may  distinguish  him  from 
other  sinners,  and  thus  make  him,  as  he  thinks, 
a fit  object  of  this  grace.  And  when  he  cannot 
find  this  in  his  works,  he  would  fain  search  for  it 
in  his  feelings.  He  wants  to  find  a certain  state 
of  mind  and  feeling  in  himself  before  he  can 
think  himself  entitled  to  lay  hold  upon  the  bless- 
ing which  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  pre- 
sents. But  this  is  absurd;  since  to  him  that 
worketh  not,  but  believeth  on  Him  that  justijieth 
the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  counted  for  righteous- 
ness. Now  such  grace  as  is  here  found  is  the 
most  difficult  thing  for  a man  to  perceive  and 
apprehend;  and  this  just  because  of  the  dark- 
ness which  is  in  him,  and  of  its  exceeding  ful- 


142 


NOTE, 


ness.  It  is  the  outflowing  of  the  gracious  mind 
of  God.  It  is  according  to  the  infinite  greatness 
of  God's  own  mind ; and,  therefore,  the  manner 
in  which  it  meets  and  deals  with  the  sinner,  is  of 
necessity  quite  contrary  to  all  the  thoughts  and 
ideas  of  man's  heart.  It  is  only  quite  natural , 
of  course,  that  man  should  seek  to  measure  the 
character  of  God's  dealing  by  his  own ; and  al- 
though in  doing  this,  he  cannot  but  allow  it  to 
be  far  more  perfect  and  excellent  than  his,  inas- 
much as  he  knows  God  is  above  himself,  yet  still 
he  makes  his  own  carnal  apprehension  of  what 
favour  is,  the  basis  of  his  judgment  about  God, 
and,  therefore,  his  judgment  about  it  of  necessity 
goes  wrong.  God's  gracious  way  of  meeting  the 
Binner  is  the  outflowing  of  his  own  mind ; and, 
therefore,  far  above  the  highest  range  of  man's 
thoughts.  He  meets  the  sinner  just  in  his  own 
position  as  a sinner.  Like  Saul,  he  may  be  “ a 
blasphemer,  a persecutor,  and  injurious;"  but 
God,  without  requiring  any  exercises  of  mind, 
any  courses  of  humiliation  for  sin,  or  any  pre- 
disposing qualification  of  any  sort,  meets  him 
just  as  he  is — A sinner,  with  all  the  free  abound- 
ing blessing  of  the  Gospel  of  his  grace.  Be  as- 
sured you  will  never  find  in  yourself  any  title  to 
believe:  the  grace  which  I perceive  in  Jesus, 
and  not  the  sorrow  I may  have  felt  for  my  sin. 


NOTE, 


143 


is  my  ground  for  believing  and  resting  upon  him 
I believe,  not  because  I have  passed  through  any 
previous  state  of  feeling  about  my  sin,  but  be- 
cause I can  perceive  something  of  the  fulness 
of  the  love  and  grace  of  God  in  Christ.  0 that 
men  should  bound  the  riches  of  God's  free  grace 
by  their  own  poor  thoughts  of  that  scanty  fa- 
vour which  is  practised  among  men  ! Your  case, 
poor  sinner,  is  really  a desperate  one.  It  may, 
or  it  may  not,  appear  so  to  you,  but  it  is  so  be- 
fore God.  Nothing  can  meet  it  but  free  grace ; 
and  this  in  all  its  characteristic  fulness  is  to  be 
found  in  Jesus.  His  own  words  are — Him  that 
cometh  unto  me  I will  in  nowise  cast  out." — 
Anonymous* 


THE  END, 


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